Racing Toward Happiness
by thoughtsmussingsandwishes
Summary: AU SwanQueen Fic! When Regina starts over in Florida, she meets an exciting new woman who changes her perspective on life. But will Emma's job and Regina's lifestyle keep these two apart?
1. Dear Daddy

**Hello Everyone!** **So a few notes to begin...**

 **This fic will have a Florida/Nascar theme. If that's not your thing, have no fear because there won't be too much about the races or anything. If it is your thing, then yay because I would love your input as I myself only know the basics! On that note, I would love everyone's input on this fic. I'm writing it on the fly (which is new to me as I usually have a structured outline) so I would love your feedback with suggestions for the plot, mistakes, or important florida/nascar facts I should know.**

 **Also I do not own Once Upon a Time and am not making any money from writing this.**

 **Enjoy!**

 _Hello,_

 _I feel silly writing to you but Katherine has been trying to get me to write for a few months now. Ever since Mother died she has insisted that I need to talk to someone about my feelings. When that didn't work, she suggested a diary. That is what I am attempting here. I tried to write my feelings in a notebook, I really did, but I could't do it. _

_So I decided to write to you Daddy, because you were always the person I confided in. If I'm being honest (and there is no reason not to be here) I have conversations with you in my head all the time. Maybe you already know this? _

_I can see why Katherine would suggest this exercise for me. There has been a lot of changes in my life in a short amount of time. I was at the beach today, looking out over the ocean and thinking about it all. _

The waves crashing onto the shore were the only sounds Regina could hear. She had been staring into the horizon for about an hour now and had only encountered one other person during that time. She was pleasantly surprised. Granted, it was February, but this was also Florida and it happened to be 70 degrees.

Regina had purposely moved to this area because it was known for it's seclusion. Close enough to Daytona Beach to be exciting but far enough away to not be living in a city. The beach across from her neighborhood wasn't technically a private one, but it was next to a highway with no place to park, and no lifeguards so that generally left it empty. From what she's seen it's mostly filled with retired people. This is exactly what she wanted. In her opinion, it was almost as far away from the life she had in NYC as she could get.

She could see how not being surrounded by people could get lonely though. Not that Regina talked to random people on the street, but at least the option was there. She really didn't have anyone. She was an only child, and both her parents were now deceased. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend, and her best friend Katherine lived in another state.

 _Hopefully all that would change though._ She thought wistfully as she pulled her cardigan tighter against herself to protect from the ocean breeze.

Regina was hoping to adopt a baby. She had always wanted to be a mom but for a number of reasons (most having to do with her own mother) it never seemed to happen for her. It was hard for a single woman to adopt though, especially when they live in Brooklyn and worked all the time. She knows she only stayed with her last boyfriend Robin as long as she did was because of his adorable son Roland. Although Roland lived with his mom most of the time and Regina didn't see him that often anyway. She never really saw herself with Robin though. Truthfully she had really only had one boyfriend that she ever loved.

 _And there is a reason for that_. She allowed herself to think about that reason for once instead of shoving it to the back of her mind.

Just as she is thinking this, a blonde woman walks in front of her on the beach. The movement catches Regina's attention and she watches as the surprisingly young woman puts her towel down a several feet away and immediately begins to strip her outer layers of clothes. Even though (in Regina's opinion) it's still too cold for swimming. She moment the blonde is left in only a bikini Regina's mind goes blank. It's like static on the radio.

The woman is RIPPED. She looks like she should be on the cover of sports illustrated. Regina can only see the profile of her face but she is sure it's as beautiful as the rest of her. Suddenly she became flushed watching her wade into the water. The moment she realized this though she abruptly truns on her heel and exists the beach.

 _What was I doing! Leering at her! I hate when men do that to me._ She chastised herself _. She's the reason though._ Regina concedes _._

 _So Daddy, this woman is really the reason I finally decided to put pen to paper and write to you. She reminded me of what I was trying to suppress._

 _I think I'm a lesbian._

 _And I know sexuality is not black and white. And you know how much I loved Daniel. _

_So maybe I'm like 70 percent gay?_

 _Does it really matter the percent though? Even now that mother is gone and I would fell safe enough to pursue these thoughts, I know that I probably won't. I'm too focused on babies to worry much about dating. _

_But this is the catalyst because for all of the other changes occurring in my life (mother's death, the breakup, the move, the new job) this is the one thing I couldn't tell anyone about but the one thing I couldn't keep to myself either._

 **Next chapter will have some Emma I promise. Do you think I should include Emma's inner thoughts though? The whole idea is that this is Regina's diary and memories but I do write in third person at times. Let me know! Thanks**


	2. Dam Lizards

_Daddy,_

 _I really didn't expect to be writing you again so soon but this day has been...well there are no words to accurately describe it. Has everything that has happened really only occurred within the last 24 hours? It's late now, almost tomorrow, but I couldn't sleep. My body is exhausted but I'm mind hasn't been this animated in a long time._

 _I feel as though I have lived more in one day than I have in the last decade._

 _I don't even know where to start. I suppose the beginning is best. Or in this case, this morning._

The day after Regina wrote to her Father she decided to go out and buy a bicycle. Once Regina finished college her mother would berate her for riding. She would claim that it was for children or athletes and that Regina was neither. Regina had always felt a sense of freedom on a bike though and she was (perhaps childishly) excited to ride one in the free open air. It would be so much different than riding one in a town or city, with the constant threat of obstacles in the way.

It didn't disappoint.

She decided after a quick test drive that afternoon that she would make a daily habit of it on the days she wasn't working.

So the next morning that is where she found herself; atop her deep-purple cruiser feeling the ocean breeze blow her hair backward.

The usually in-control woman lost herself in the moment. Lost herself in the feeling of the wind, and the feeling of contentment knowing that there was no reason to be self-concious because no-one knew her here.

Perhaps she should have paid a little more attention though because when she focuses again on the sidewalk in front of her she is startled to see movement catch her eye. She jumps into action slamming on her breaks and steering hard to the right side . Unfortunately, a road sign in directly on the grass to her right and the bike slams into it. She stumbles off of the seat and effectively twists her ankle before the fame come crashing down onto her leg.

Regina simply lays her head back on the sandy ground for a moment to let her mind catch up with the situation. She turns her head to the side to make sure no one saw her blunder when movement catches her eye again.

 _It was a dam lizard! I should have just squashed him!_

She slowly disentangles herself and stands up. Thankfully the bicycle isn't heavy and it wasn't a bad fall so she's in pretty good shape. A few scrapes, and her ankle feels sore, but otherwise fine. The bicycle looks okay too so she decides it's better to try and ride home than put the pressure on her ankle and walk.

She cautiously mounts and kicks off the ground. Almost immediately she realizes something is wrong though. Her handlebars are moving in one direction but the wheels aren't moving with it. She dismounts before she falls twice in one morning and crouches down to inspect the bike.

Truly she has no idea what she is looking for though. Perhaps hoping she could twist a piece that came loose back into place? Nothing seems broken to her, although something is clearly wrong if it's not steering properly.

 _Of course the second day I have a new bicycle it breaks. I bet mother was laughing victoriously wherever she is._

She heaves a deep sigh;resigning herself to the fact that she'll have to walk the bike home and bring it to the shop later.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice says from behind her.

A "yes, I'm fine, thank you." is already leaving Regina's mouth as she spins around to face the woman. It's a good thing she was already answering too because a soon as she sees the woman's face she goes momentarily speechless. A face is not a foot away from her own and smiling beatifically.

The first thing Regina notices is freckles. A cute splattering of freckles across rosy cheeks and nose. Regina always loved freckles. Especially children with freckles. What is cuter than that?

This woman is certainty not a child though. She has a strong jaw and eyes that have the depth and color reminiscent of the sea. It's only when Regina sees the long blonde hair that is pulled into a pony tail that Regina realizes this is the same woman from a few days ago on the beach. She never thought such a strong, sexy woman would have such an adorable face though. Now that she thinks about it, it is obvious that it was the same person. Her eyes finally leave the woman's face a travel to the rest of her body. The blonde is wear a tank-top, leggings, and running shoes. Earphones hang around her neck and are attached to a strap on her arm where her phone is held.

Regina realizes that she has been checking out the other woman for so long that she missed a question she was being asked.

"Sorry what?" She asks in as level a voice as she can manage.

"I asked if you needed any help." The woman explains.

"Not unless you know anything about bike mechanics."

The woman smiles even wider if that's possible.

"Well bicycles aren't my specialty but I can take a look if you want."

Regina simply motions with her hand to the bike, indicating that she is free to take a look.

The blonde woman crouches down.

"Something is wrong with the steering." Regina remembers to point out after a moment.

She can't seem to remember anything around the other woman. She's never felt so flustered around another person before.

"Okay the damage doesn't seem too bad. I'm sure I can fix it, I just don't have any tools on me. You don't happen to have an allen key in you bag, do you?" The woman looks up at her again and jokes while nodding her head to the messenger bag Regina is sporting.

"Oh dam. Only a wrench in there." Regina deadpans without really thinking.

To her surprise the blonde woman laughs before standing up. "Oh well. I'm not staying too far if you want to wheel it over." She asks hesitantly.

"I couldn't ask you to do that." Regina insists.

"You weren't asking, I was offering. Plus this is a really easy fix but if you take it somewhere they'll probably still charge you an obscene amount of money."

Normally Regina would never go somewhere with a stranger like this. Especially one who looked so much stronger than her. But there was something so open and friendly about the other woman that she found herself responding "okay" before she made the conscious decision to do so.

"I'm Emma, by the way." The no-longer stranger says and sticks out her hand.

"Regina" She answers and clasps the offered palm. The hand is strong and calloused but the gentle way she shakes feels like the sweetest caress.


	3. Disappointments and Dwarves

"It's nice to meet you Regina." Emma says once Regina reluctantly lets go of her hand.

"So how did this happen? The bike looks band new." Emma takes the bike and starts pushing it towards the neighborhood.

"I bought it yesterday. I don't know what happened." Regina looks away. For some reason she is finding it very difficult to lie to the other woman. However the last thing she wants is for Emma to think she is a klutz.

Emma stops walking and looks at Regina disbelievingly. The other woman's eyes focus on Regina's leg, which Regina only now realizes it bleeding a little.

Regina sighs and attempts to walk again so she can avoid looking directly at Emma. "In a valiant effort to save a lizard's life, I may have hit into that sign." She explains and motions to the sign several feet behind them now.

Emma chuckles a little. "Those lizards are everywhere!"

They fall into a comfortable silence for a few steps before Emma notices Regina is walking with a slight limp.

"Are you okay to walk?"

"I should be fine." Regina said trying to downplay how much her ankle hurt.

"I could carry you."

Regina's startled expression is enough to make Emma burst into laughter. Regina looks at the woman's arms again, entirely sure the other woman COULD carry her if she wanted to. The idea of that is enough to make her blush though.

"You said you didn't live far, right?"

"I actually don't live here at all. I'm staying with some old friends for a few days.

 _Daddy, the amount of disappointment I felt at those words was inappropriate. I didn't even know this woman!_

"Oh"

"You sound surprised."

"I suppose I am. I saw you the other day on the beach and this isn't exactly a destination spot."

 _Seriously what the hell was wrong with me today?! I was terrified she was going to think I was a stalker or something._

 _Emma thankfully didn't seem to notice my blunder._

"Yeah, it's nice and quiet here. My job has me traveling a lot but whenever I'm in Florida I always make sure to visit."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a Nascar mechanic."

"Really?"

"Now you sound even more surprised." Emma says amused. "Is it because I'm a woman?"

"No...I've just never met anyone who did anything like that before. Wait, the races start this weekend right?"

"Yes, I came over early but the series starts soon."

"That's very interesting."

"It is. It's my first year working in the big-leagues. I was woking for a team in the development series before this."

 _Of course I had no idea what she was talking about. Rest assured I will look up everything there is to know about Nascar tomorrow._

"Well, congratulations then"

"Thanks" She looks embarrassed by the praise. "What do you do?"

"I own a restaurant."

"Wow, where?"

"In Daytona. It's actually not that far from the racetrack."

"I'll have to check it out sometime."

"I actually just bought it. The food is great but the atmosphere...not so much. I'm planning a small remodel to be done in the spring."

"That sounds ambitious."

"I guess, but it really needed to be done."

By that time they had arrived outside of a house with a large open garage and a very unsafe balcony on the second floor.

"We're here." Emma announces and steers the bike into the small dirt/sand driveway.

"We're actually neighbors then. I live on the row of houses behind this one."

"You can afford a restaurant but not beachfront property?" Emma teases.

"Seemed like an irresponsible purchase. The taxes and upkeep are more too."

"Yeah I guess that's why five of the brothers live here."

"I can't imagine having five sons!"

"There were actually eight sons. One died though before I even met them. So now I call them the seven dwarves."

"Does that make you snow white?"

Emma laughs while trying to route through the messy garage for the tools she needs. Regina leans against the wall to take the pressure off her ankle.

"God no! I would be like some random woodland creature that they fed so I kept coming back."

Just then a short man with a black bead and a beer-belly came stomping into the garage.

"Hey Blondie, what are you routing around for?"

Emma glares at him.

"Regina, meet Grumpy." She says sarcastically.

Regina tries to give the man a small smile. He barely nods his head in acknowledgment.

"I told you to stop calling me that." The man grumbles.

"Then stop fitting the part. And by the way, why is this place such a mess?!"

"Because you're not here to clean it." He says with a shrug.

"Ah ha!" Emma says when she finally finds an allen key the correct size. Then she turns to Regina and explains, "Leroy and his brothers are the ones who first taught me about cars when I was like 14. They use to help out in their shop but mostly that meant just cleaning up after them."

"Sounds more like Cinderella than Snow White then."

Regina tries to watch what Emma is doing to the bike so she can fix it herself if she ever needs to but all it looks like is twisting and turning to her.

"This one? A princess? Ha!" Leroy says sarcastically.

"Can you leave?" Emma asks him like a teenager demanding their parent leave their room.

"Fine Fine." He grumbles and leaves the garage.

Silence falls for a few moments before Emma claps her hands. "I think that should do it." She gets on the bike and rides in a circle in the driveway to test it out.

"Thank you so much." Regina says and hobbles over to the other woman.

Emma looks at her disapprovingly when Regina takes the bike from her hand and starts walking. Emma walks alongside her until they are a few houses away.

Regina doesn't know why Emma is coming with her but she certainly wasn't about to complain.

"Are you sure your ankle is okay?" Emma stops walking.

"I'll put some ice on it once I get home."

"Here." She says and turns around.

"What?"

"Get on my back"

"No!"

"Why not? I promise not to drop you."

"I barely know you." Regina tries to reason.

Emma turns back around and seems to think for a minute. Then takes a deep breath like she's nervous and sticks out her hand again. "Hi. I'm Emma Swan. I'm 28 years old. I'm a mechanic for race cars. I'm naturally competitive but I'd like to think I'm not a sore loser. I was raised in the foster care system and got into some trouble in my youth but don't worry I was never convicted of a felony."

Regina slowly processes this information and shakes her hand again. Then Emma turns around and this without thinking about what she's doing Regina awkwardly gets onto the other woman's back.

 _I haven't had a piggy-back ride since I was six and you gave me one. My house really wasn't far but this was beyond what normal people do right? And what did she mean by trouble in her youth? It surprisingly didn't turn me off though. I don't think anything could have turned me off while I was pressed up against her back for those 6 minutes though. It took all of my will-power not to press my face into her neck and smell her skin. These were crazy thoughts that I was unaccustomed to. Although I could see how spending time with her would force me to grow accustomed to them._

 _We got to my house all to soon and way too slowly._

"And here I was thinking I was too big for piggy-back rides." Regina says when they reach her house and she gets off.

"Nah. I was training to be in the pit crew before I moved teams so compared to the working out I had to do, carrying you was nothing." She assures me.

"Well, thank you again. Could I give you something for the bike?" She asks and takes the handle bars from the other woman.

"Absolutely not. The whole point was to save you money."

"Can I at least buy you lunch then? I would offer you something here but I'm ashamed to say I don't have any groceries at the house."

"You really don't have to."

 _Normally I wouldn't have even offered something like this in the first place but I was beginning to realize how lonely I was. And her declining seemed like it was more to be polite than because she didn't want to come. So (because I seem to have no filter around her) then next words were more truthful than I'm use to being._

"I insist. To be honest it would be nice to have lunch with somebody too. I still don't know many people here so it's been a little lonely"

Emma smiled reassuringly. "How about I come by in about a half hour. I should probably take a shower before going anywhere."

 _It was only then that I remembered how gross I was. I can't believe I touched her feeling that sweaty. I still had blood on my leg too!_

"Yes that sounds like a good idea." Regina responded with a blush. Thankfully she was tanned enough for it not to be obvious.

"See you soon.

 **Thank you for reading, following, and reviewing. I love to hear and see feedback!**


	4. Daytona Steakhouse

**For my birthday I'm posting a new chapter because you guys deserve a present too haha I hope you enjoy it!**

 _What do you wear to a non-date with Emma Swan? It wasn't a date, right? It didn't seem like one when we planned it but as soon as she left I became confused about the entire morning so far. I now had only a half and hour to shower, put on make-up, decide what I was going to wear, and decide where we were going to eat._

 _I efficiently used the shower time to think but what really held me up was the outfit. I had work clothes and exercise clothes and very little else in between. I don't usually casually hang out with other people. I knew heels were unfortunately out because my ankle couldn't handle it._

 _In the end I decided on a sleeveless-collered blouse and jeans. I almost changed into something nicer but that was right when the doorbell rang. It turns out my choice was a good one too because when I opened the door the goddess in front of me was wearing jeans and a plain white tank top. Her hair was loose and wavy. Possibly still damp. I wanted to reach out and touch it to see for myself but that woud be entirely inappropriate._

"Ready to go?" Emma asks as a greeting.

"Yes." Regina gives a small smile and grabs her purse before heading out and locking the door.

"I figured I would drive since you probably didn't get a chance to ice or wrap your ankle." Emma says and leads her to a perfectly restored, yellow, 70s Volkswagen beetle.

To be honest Regina had forgotten about her injuries in her Emma-riddled brain. Even now she was more focused on the car than any precieved pain.

"This is your car?"

"I don't think I like the tone of that question." Emma teases.

"I suppose I'm just surprised. Maybe I assumed you would have a car that could go faster?" Regina says even as she gets into the passenger seat.

"Don't doubt it's abilities. I restored this myself."

"Impressive."

"I guess." Emma says and once again shrugs off any compliments. "So where am I driving to?"

"I was thinking I could show you my restaurant. I can direct you there."

"Sounds good to me!"

Once they turned onto the main highway silence fell over the car.

 _I had one of those moments sitting in that car where you just think: 'Is this really happening?' 'Is this my life?' Because whatever you are doing is so far from what you thought you would ever be doing that your mind now has to play catch up._

It's Regina who finally breaks the silence to give her a direction though. But once the airways are open Emma jumps on the opportunity for conversation.

"You've said that you don't know many people, and that you just bought this restaurant, so I'm assuming that you just moved here?"

"Look at you Detective Swan, putting the evidence together."

"I do like cop shows."

"Yes I just moved here about 2 moths ago."

"Where did you live before?"

"I've always lived in New York. Except when I went to college I suppose. Then I was in New Hampshire. I managed restaurants in Manhattan for the last five years but I officially lived in Brooklyn." Regina rambles, not use to talking about herself.

"Wow, that is quite a lifestyle change. What brought that on?" Emma looks over to her quickly.

Regina sighs.

"You don't have to tell me." Emma assures her.

"No no, it's okay. If you make a left up here the restaurant will immediately be on your right though so how about we wait until be get inside for story time."

Emma nods her head in agreement and follows the directions given.

Emma soon pulls up to the unimpressive square building.

"Daytona Steakhouse." Emma reads the sign out front. "That's a...generic name." She settles on saying.

Regina laughs at Emma's attempt at being diplomatic. "You can just say it. It's a terrible name. That one of the first changes I'm making."

Emma looks relieved that Regina was not only not offended but realizes how terrible it is.

"What are you thinking about naming it?"

"I haven't decided yet. I was thinking maybe ' _Mills Steakhouse_.'

"Mills?"

"My last name."

"Oh!" Emma says with understanding as they walk through the front door. "Conceited much?" She jokes.

"Like you wouldn't name your restaurant ' _Swan's Steaks_ ' or something of the like."

"True. But you have to admit that the double S sounds awesome."

Regina rolls her eyes but smiles as they walk up to the hostess stand where her head waitress Ruby is now standing and watching the women with amusement. She seems a little taken-aback watching her normally stoic boss so happy.

"Hey, Boss Lady. What can I do for you."

"Hello Ruby. We're here for lunch. This is my friend, Miss Swan." She felt rude not introducing the two women.

"Emma" The blonde corrects.

"Emma Swan?" Ruby questions. "Why do I know that name- Oh! You're new on Jones' team this year."

Regina and Emma are both surprised that she knows who the blonde is. "Yeah?"

"Granny is obsessed with Nascar." Ruby explains. "She was just reading me an article this morning about the new people this year. A woman mechanic is still rare enough to stand out in my mind. I'll have to tell her you're here. On second thought, maybe I won't, she'll probably barrage you with questions."

"Maybe if Emma is pleased with her cooking she'll allow herself to be subjected to questioning." Regina smirks.

Ruby smiles "Well it's nice to meet you" she says and grabs menus before leading them to their table.

"So Granny cooks here?" Emma asks for clarification once they sit down in the booth.

 _Our knees bumped together and I swear my hear stopped, which is completely ridiculous considering the fact that I was on her back not 2 hours ago. An innocent touch shouldn't have this affect._

"Yes. She is Ruby's grandmother but insists everyone here call her that."

"That's sweet. And I don't actually mind them questioning me. It's a little strange since I've never been recognized for anything before but I don't think it's likely to happen again so I might as well milk this little bit of fame." She shrugs.

"I'm glad to hear that because regardless of what Ruby said I am certain the entire restaurant knows that you are here by now. She's quite the gossip."

"Really? And how do you know this? Do you happen to gossip with her like two old biddies."

"Like what? And no, I don't really know most of the staff that well yet. She just happens to be the most vocal of the group. Customers seem to love how friendly she is though."

"I suppose we'll see because here she comes." Emma says and looks over the top of her menu at the leggy brunette who is making her way to their table.

 _I still can't figure out if Emma was checking Ruby out at the time. Her eyes did seem to roam over the other woman's (almost not work appropriate) attire. I also can't figure out why the thought of her doing so made me angry. I had throughly convinced myself by that time that this wasn't a date so there was no reason for this hostility. I tried to swallow it down quickly though._

"Have you two decided?" She asks.

Emma looks to Regina and nods her head to indicate that she should order first. Regina avoids eye contact.

"Yes, I'll have an iced tea and the chicken salad."

"I'll have a root beer and a cheeseburger. Medium-well. Thanks."

"Okay I'll be right back with that."

"Are you okay?" Emma asks once Ruby disappears into the back.

"Yes, of course." Regina takes a deep breath. "So who's team are you on? Ruby said Jones?"

"Yes, Killian Jones."

"I'm afraid to admit that I know little about the sport. It doesn't seem to be as popular up north."

"He's actually a pretty good driver. He believes that he's god's gift to humanity in every way- so not the most humble guy in the world-but I can at least see why he has an ego when it comes to driving."

"How did you get a job with him?"

"I've actually known him almost as long as I've been in the business so they offered me the job when their last general mechanic left the team. It would have been stupid of me to turn it down."

"That makes it sound like you wanted to though?"

"No I wanted the job, but I had been trying to get onto the pit crew with my left team at the time. I always thought it would be so much more exciting. I knew the likelihood of getting the position was slim but I still feel like there was a lost possibility there."

"Why were the odds slim?"

"You heard Ruby saying a woman on the team at all was rare, right? Well being on the pit crew is almost unheard of. It's a purely physical reason. Most women just physically aren't strong enough. My argument is that just because they usually aren't doesn't mean they can't be but I think we still have a while until that kind of thinking becomes accepted."

 _I loved the way her eyes lit up as she was becoming passionate about the subject._

"How did you get into the industry in the first place?" Regina asks as their food is set before them. From what Regina has heard it's mostly people's parents or other relatives that get them into the sport and Emma mentioned growing up in foster care...

"That is a long story." She says with a shy smiles and bites into her food. "This is really good she says evasively once she swallows.

"I would say thank you but I didn't really have anything to do with it." Regina says as she eats her own lunch.

"I can see what you mean about great food but poor atmosphere. No offense." The blonde comments as she looks around the 70s decor of the dark restaurant.

"None taken. At least it's clean." Regina responds. "I already have the plans of what I'm going to do in here."

"Like what?"

"I suppose you'll just have to come back and see it once it's finished."

"Oh, I plan to." Emma grins.


	5. Diana Hart

The meal passed relatively quickly. Emma seemed to be avoiding the topic of Regina's move and the brunette was grateful for the reprieve in heavy conversation. She also got to know many small facts about Emma. She absorbed the information as if she would have to repeat later on a test. She learned that Emma also use to live up north but in several different states. She also learned that her favorite food is anything chocolate and therefore her favorite holiday is Halloween.

Overall, Regina considered it a success since she managed not to embarrass herself. And yes, Granny made an apperance at the table before they could leave.

"The meal was delicious." Emma compliments the old woman.

"Hear that, Mills?"

"Granny, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not going to fire you."

"Always good to remind you of my skills."

"It's the best thing about this place." Emma assures. "Except the people who work here." She adds and doesnt take her eyes off Regina as she says it.

Regina blushes and looks away.

"Now girlie, let's talk about you."Granny insists

"Me?" Emma questions.

"Yes you, hotshot mechanic. What is Jones like? Is he as handsome as the pictures?"

"He thinks so. Objectively, yeah he's very handsome in person. Much to his dismay though, I don't swing that way so I might not be the best authority."

 _My heart leaped again at her words. It's not like I hadn't suspected but to have it confirmed that she likes women also was very exciting. It was difficult to keep the joy off my face but I tried hard because Granny was looking at the pair of us with an unreadable expression after that._

"Ah, so he's arragont. Got that vibe from his interviews. Still nice to look at though. Dam good driver too." Granny nods her head in understanding. "Well I best be going. Good luck with the season."

"Thanks." Emma says as Granny departs.

"Ready to go?" Regina asks.

"Yup."

As soon as they got to the car Emma assured Regina that she knew how to get home without directions.

Regina quickly realized that Emma wasn't taking them back the way that they came. And although she knew that they could get home through these side roads, it would take much longer.

 _Was Emma as reluctant to part as I was? My mind began to wander due to the implications of that. Like: Should I invite her into the house when we get back. What would happen if I did. What would I WANT to happen if I did?_

 _To be honest, I don't think I was ready for too much to happen. I had never really even kissed a woman before. Well technically I did the ONE time I was really drunk in college...but I don't count that. No matter how much I may have wanted something more to happen with Emma I knew it probably shouldn't._

 _However I also knew that I was intoxicated by this woman and nothing so far today had gone according to plan so I had little hope of that starting to happen now._

Before she could get too deep into her thoughts or the comfortable silence could last too long, Regina's cell rang.

She gave Emma a sheepish look and answered.

 _"Hello?"_ She didn't reconize the number.

 _"Miss Mills?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"Hello. This is Diana Hart from Florida Child Placement."_

 _"Oh. Hello."_

Regina's back stiffened. She looked over at Emma who looked to be trying not to ease drop on the conversation.

 _"I am calling to set up a home visit. What days are you normally available?"_

 _"I have a flexible schedule."_

 _"How about next Thursday at noon then?"_

 _"Sounds wonderful."_

 _Honestly anything would have sounded wonderful at that moment as long as it meant that I was no longer having this conversation in a car with Emma Swan sitting a foot away._

 _"Great. I will email you the details and what to expect. If you have any questions before then feel free to call me."_

 _"Thank you."_

 _"You're very welcome. Have a nice day."_

 _"You too."_

 _Reality crashed into me like two cars during a race. What was I doing there with Emma? What was I just thinking about? We had no future together! Emma travels all the time and I'm trying to adopt a baby. Children need stability, which doesn't include some transient woman._

 _And I was never one for one-night stands. I could see the appeal but before this I had always dated men. I couldn't even think of being intimate with them unless I really knew them and liked their personalities._

 _I knew Emma shouldn't be my first experience with that. I had a feeling she would probably ruin me for other women._

 _Plus, I started to think I was jumping ahead of myself. Just because Emma liked women doesn't mean she is interested in me personally._

"My apologies. I always feel rude when I'm on the phone in front of other people."

"No problem. It sounded important.

"An appointment." Regina stated evasively. It was technically true.

"I like your professional voice by the way."

"What?"

Emma smirks.

"You have a different tone when your on the phone or speaking with your employees. I like it. It's like a sexy principal."

Regina blushes.

 _It was comments like that which made me think I was right in assuming she WAS interested._

"Do you have a lot of experience with that?"

"Sexy principals?"

Regina nods her head in confirmation.

"Unfortunately no. And I've met my fair share."

"Sorry to hear it." Regina says with a smirk. Leave it to this mysterious blonde to pull her out of her mind funk so easily.

"It's just as well that I didn't have an incentive to get sent to the principal's office. I was trying to keep my nose clean at the time. I bet you never got into trouble at school."

"I went to private school and no I was too afraid of my mother to ever get into trouble."

"Hard-ass parents? I get that. I definitely had a few of those."

"My Dad was wonderful although her took a very hands off approach to parenting. It was mostly my mother who was the "hard-ass". She wasn't abusive, just manipulative and controlling."

"Was?"

"They've both passed now. My father when I was a freshman in college and my mother just a few months ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Regina says nothing. She's not currently upset but she just never knows how to respond to the sentiment.

"Is that why you moved?" Emma tentatively asks.

"Partly. I've always wanted to live by the beach. I would have moved south right after college but my mother somehow convinced me to stay by her. Once she was gone there was really nothing keeping me there. I really didn't have many friends. My best friend didn't live near me anyway and I had just ended my relationship. So, I took my inheritance, packed up and left."

"I understand the need to just leave." Emma says thoughtfully. "It's still pretty brave of you. Most people wouldn't start over like that."

"There is something freeing about no longer being responsible to anyone." Regina admits. "At the same time..."

"It's a lonely existence. Everyone wants to be cared about enough to know that someone would be upset to see them move." Emma finishes for her.

"Exactly." The brunette agrees and looks over to Emma affectionately.

Silence passes for a moment before Emma excitedly points out the windshield.

"Look at that mimi golf place! It's huge! Is that a waterfall?!"

"It is quite large."

"Have you ever been there?"

"No...I've actually never been mini golfing before." Regina admits.

Emma whips her head around to look at Regina with a shocked expression.

"Even I've been mini golfing."

"What do you want me to say? I've lived most of my life in a city."

"Oh, we're rectifying that right now!"

"Are we really?" Regina asks sarcastically.

"Yes!" She exclaims and then seems to settle down for a moment. "I mean we don't have to if you don't want to. You probably had like important plans for today before you ran into me this morning."

Regina frowns at the sudden insecurity. "No, no plans. I'm all yours today."

Emma grins again and makes the next u-turn.


	6. Dino's Golf Adventure

"I haven't done this in years!" Emma exclaims excitedly as they enter the small building separating the parking lot and the course. It's more like a shack and the sign hanging off the roof is almost the size of the building itself. It reads "Dino's Golf Adventure."

"An exciting day for both of us then."

"You have a very dry sense of humor, don't you?" Emma states more than asks.

"You just realized that?"

"Hey! I have only known you for a handful of hours." Emma says defensively.

"Feels like longer." Much to Regina's shock she says this out loud instead of only in her head.

"It does." Emma agrees easily as they step up to the cashier.

 _She wouldn't let me pay for my own game. She insisted that since it was her idea to come that she should be the one to pay. She also said that she wanted my first game ever to be a present. That sounds very date-like, right? Except then she calls me buddy as we are picking out clubs. BUDDY! Is there a less provocative word in the English language?!_

"Out of all the colored golf balls, you pick white?!" Regina asks her incredulously as they stand over the barrel of rainbow balls. "You're one of those people whose favorite character is always the main character aren't you?" She then accuses.

"What? No! And anyway you're supposed to identify with the main character!" Emma says with mock hurt but her smile gives her away. "I just use white because I like to pretend that I'm an actual pro golfer." She adds with a blush.

"Well Tiger Woods, how about you go first and show me how it's done." She offers and waves her hand in the direction of the first hole.

"Most people might be offended by that comparison, but I've been called worse so I'll take it."

She strategically places her ball on the green mat in front of her and straightens her back. Regina can tell she's putting on a show and tries not to give in and laugh. She hits the ball and it rolls around the bend and right OVER the hole, evidently going too fast to drop in.

"Dam. You're turn."

 _Her pout was too cute. But unfortunately it WAS my turn. I had never even held a club before so I just decided to wing it and try hitting it. I'm competitive but I was preparing myself already to loose because there was truly no hope._

 _Imagine my surprise then when the ball goes in on the first try._

Emma's jaw drops open. "Beginners luck."

"I have many hidden talents, dear." I say and pass by her. "Some I'm not even aware of yet."

Emma gets her's into the hole in the next try and they move on.

"Watch out for the dinosaur tracks!" Emma calls from behind her.

Sure enough their are fake dinosaur footprints in the pathway in front of her.

"They really went all out with this theme didn't they." Regina states while looking around at all the dinosaur parafanalia. They even had informational posts every few feet so you could learn more about the jurassic period.

"Yeah it's pretty cool. I've loved dinosaurs ever since I saw _A Land Before Time_ as a kid. Little-foot was so cute."

"Another main character."

Emma ignores her and takes her next shot which again passes the hole.

"So who do you like then you like then if not the main character? Are you a side-kick kinda girl?"

Regina scoffs at the notion. "I tend to like the villains."

"I could see that." Emma says thoughtfully while watching her putt. "I bet you even play as Bowser in Mario Kart. And no one plays as Bowser."

"Who are you playing with that doesn't use Bowser?" Regina questions as her ball also fails to go in the hole. They both move forward and take another shot. "Bowser always gets great ammo to throw. I have to admit though, I have a soft spot for toad."

Emma looks at her in amazement. "To be honest, I didn't think you had actually ever played the game."

"My roommate in college had this boyfriend, well husband now I suppose, that use to play these games in our room all the time. Every once and a while they would wear me down until I played."

"You still keep in contact?" Emma asks.

"Oddly enough, yes."

"Why is it odd?"

Regina struggles for a diplomatic thing to say. "Mary Margaret and I have...an interesting dynamic."

Emma laughs as they move to the third hole. "That sounds like you hate her."

"I don't hate her." Regina clarifies. "She is probably the most peppy and idiotic person I have ever met. The room was often a hostile environment. Yet each year she would ask me if I wanted to room with her again and I would for some reason say yes." Regina shakes her head at her own lunacy.

"Sounds like a sisterly dynamic to me." Emma observes "Although I don't have any siblings that I know of so maybe I'm wrong."

 _I had never before thought of Mary Margauret as my sister but somehow I found it an apt description. It was truly the only thing to explain why I seemed to love her despite how irritating she and David were._

"I never had siblings either so I wouldn't know but maybe she acted as an annoying younger sister." she concedes. "My mother hated her. It was pretty fun to watch them interact. Especially since Mr. Blanchard- Mary Margaret's father- was the CEO of a large corporation in the city and my mother always felt the need to be on her best behavior around them. I swear that woman would have tried to marry me off to him if was appropriate. She was always looking to advance her status in life. You can imagine her disappointment when I told her I was using my business degree to work in the restaurant industry." Regina then realizes she went on a rant and promptly looks away. "Sorry, I don't normally talk this much."

Emma gives a small chuckle. "No, I love hearing about your life. You're really interesting!" Then her tone changed and she adds "It's you beating me in this game right now which I'm not liking at all."

Regina honestly didn't know how she was winning when all she was doing was aimlessly hitting the ball but she wasn't about to question that method at the moment.

"You did warn me that you're competitive."

"Yes, I am now stop distracting me."

 _After that we were quiet for a bit. I am slightly ashamed to admit that I used that time to check out her backside while she was putting. I really tried not to leer at her but honestly how was it fair for someone so beautiful to just be walking around on the street? And why was someone so beautiful and friendly and carefree hanging out with ME of all people?_

 _These thoughts lead me to an insecure mind-space that was not conducive_ _to conversation when she tried to start it back up again._

"I think I'm finally catching up!"

"Oh?"

"Yup. I could beat you yet."

"We'll see I suppose."

"So I'm curious, if you're mom didn't want you to be in the restaurant industry, how did that come about?"

"Oh you're deeming it safe to converse again?"

"Har Har."

"I sort of fell into it. I worked in a restaurant all through college. Even when I had other internships and classes going on. They saw how dedicated I was and I soon found myself in a managerial position there. When I got out of college I decided that I really didn't want to work for the type of business that I was interning at so I started applying to management jobs in manhattan. I eventually took one at this upscale restaurant that was starting to loose customers. I ended up saving the restaurant with the changes I made. Word spread and soon enough one of the most posh restaurants in the city was offering me the general manager position. That's when my mother finally accepted my decision. She still didn't really like it, but at least it was something she could brag about and I was now her "in" at a place her friends would be jealous of."

"Wow. I for one, think that is highly impressive."

"Thanks. I like it. It's never boring I'll tell you that."

"I can imagine."

"Alright, now I've talked about myself way too much. Tell me something about you."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. How about you tell me how you got into the racing industry in the first place. It doesn't seem like something you just fall into." She brings up the topic that Emma evaded earier. She really was curious about how one would become a race car mechanic.

Emma seems to shift uncomfortably. "It's usually not. There is a lot of family bloodlines running through the industry. But in my case, I actually did fall into it. It's a really long story but I happened to meet the right people and was qualified for a position and then bam. I really didn't know anything about it until I met the dwarves (who are big fans) but even then I didn't get into it myself until about a year before I started working for Nascar."

Regina accepts the explaination. She still wonders about this long story but is not one to push others to talk about their feelings.

"It's funny the journey life takes you on." She finally responds thinking about where life has led her up until now.

"Yeah. I'd like to think it brings you exactly where you are meant to be though."

"Like to mini-golf course in Ormond Beach, Florida?"

"If it means I'm here with you? Then yeah."

 **Thanks for reading! Please Review. I love to hear comments and suggestions for the story!**


	7. Decaf Coffee

"I thought you told me you weren't a sore loser?" Regina comments on their way back to the car.

"I'm normally not." Emma grumbles. "I also normally don't get hustled! There is no way this is your first time mini-golfing!"

"Why would I hustle you if we didn't even bet anything on the outcome?"

"I don't know...to seem more impressive than you really are." The blonde lamely accuses.

"You're a child."

Emma sticks her tongue out at her playfully before starting the car.

 _She really had been acting childish during the game. The last four holes were basically her trying to distract me and sending "insults" my way in a desperate attempt to catch up to me in the game. I didn't even end up winning by a lot but the fact that I won at all seemed to be too much for her. I have to say that her pout-really the whole episode- was adorable. It almost made me want to beat her at more games. Her winning clearly isn't an option as I have a feeling she would be insufferable._

The mini-golf course is more than half-way home from the restaurant so they find themselves approaching the neighborhood faster than wanted. The closer they get to Regina's house the quieter the car becomes. They had been making the odd comment here or there when they first started driving but now the only words are those of Adele's softly singing through the radio.

Finally the vintage bug pulls up into the driveway of the small white house.

"Would you like to come in for a drink?" Regina blurts out.

"Um.." Emma hums and looks at the clock on the dash board. It's already 4:22.

"You don't have to. I'm sure you have plans while you're visiting."

"No, no." Emma is quick to assure her. "I would like that. I did actually promise I would be back by 5:30 for dinner since it's my last night here though. I have to meet the crew early tomorrow morning when they arrive."

"Okay..." Regina says and opens the door slowly still unsure if that means Emma is coming in or not.

That is, until Emma gets out of the car as well. Regina smiles to herself as she lets them into her home.

It's really not a big home. It's a one story and consists of a master bedroom, guest bed, two full baths, a kitchen, a living room, and a sunroom attached to the kitchen. Each of the rooms are on the smaller side square footage wise, but the high ceilings and spare decorating make it feel larger than it is. What items are in the room are of high quality.

"Your house is beautiful!" Emma comments.

 _I'm very proud of my home and this is the first time I had entertained anyone here. (If you don't count my old next door neighbor, Josephine) Had it not been Emma I would have been thrilled to show off. As it was though, it was Emma in my home and therefore I was too overwhelmed to be excited._

"Thanks. You're actually one of the first people to see inside."

"I feel honored then."

"I'm going to use the restroom quickly but please make yourself at home."

Emma nods her head as Regina sets her purse down walks into her bedroom.

"Would you like a drink?" She asks as she walks back in a few minutes later. Emma is seated at the kitchen island twirling a pencil in her hand. "Like I said earlier, I don't have many groceries but I do have water, coffee, tea, wine.."

"Do you have decaf coffee?"

"I believe so." Regina says as she makes her way into the kitchen. It's easily the nicest room in the house, and the one she's spent the most money on. Emma looks around while Regina prepares their coffee.

"Milk and sugar?"

"Yes, please."

"I'm glad I have milk in the house then. I don't usually buy it but I was planning on baking soon and needed it."

"Do you like to cook?" Emma asks.

"Yes. I find it quite relaxing."

"Did you ever think of being in that part of the restaurant business then?"

"No." Regina states definitively. "Even without my mother's disapproval I think that I would no longer find cooking relaxing if it was my career. My skills are better suited for organization and overseeing."

"So bossing people around?" Emma asks only half kidding.

"Exactly."Regina smiles and plays along. "Do you cook?"

"Not even a little. I never learned when I was younger and I move around so much that I never bothered buying proper kitchen equipment.

"Do you like the vagabond lifestyle? Or do think you'll ever settle down somewhere?" Regina asks as she places the bright blue mug in front of the blonde and takes the stool next to her.

 _I'm ashamed to admit how invested I was in her answer to this question. It's not like I expected her to tell me right then and there that she wants to stay for me because I've awoken her soul or some other romantic gesture. Logically I would find her insane if she did, considering we still don't really know each other. That doesn't mean I can't have fantasies about it happening though._

"It's all I've ever known. It's like my life is a race but I don't know where I'm trying to go." Emma says with a defeated shrug. "Sometimes, like when I visit here, it's so peaceful and I think about settling down. But honestly? I don't know what I'd do myself if I did. Aside from a few of my Nascar colleagues, the dwarves are the only people who feel anything like family to me. And they're not enough to make me stay."

"Maybe one day you'll have a reason to settle." Regina says in a hopeful voice. "You'll find what you're racing toward."

 _Emma then looked at me. I mean REALLY stared at me in a way no one had ever done before. I felt like a rare piece of artwork that she was trying to find the hidden meaning to._

 _And I stared right back because how could I not? I was helpless against those vibrant blue-green eyes. She wasn't smiling exactly but her faced seemed relaxed and happy. Her eyes, thoughtful and wondering._

 _Eventually I had to know what was going through her mind. I had to know what she was concluding from her analysis of me._

"What?" Regina questions softly.

"Your face is so unique." Emma says automatically. Then she seems to think better of herself and breaks eye contact for a moment. "That sounded odd. It was definitely a compliment though." She assures self-conciously. "Many people have such generic faces but not you. Yet..."

"Yet?"Regina prompts.

"You seem so familiar." Emma admits. "Have you ever met someone and just thought 'wow, they remind me of so-and-so'?"

"Yes?" Regina asks.

 _I wasn't exactly following where she was going with the conversation but the fact that she was complimenting me in any way, was enough to make my heart beat faster._

"I feel that way when I look at you. Except I KNOW I've never met anyone like you. It's a strange feeling. Comforting, but strange."

"Perhaps we've met and don't remember?"

"I think I would have remembered you."

"Maybe we met in another life?"

"So our souls reconnect in every lifetime?"

"If you believe in such things."

 _Suddenly I realized how close she was. When had we both started to lean toward each other?_

"I'd like to believe." Emma finally responds as if this is a heavy confession on her part.

 _She was now leaning even closer and it HAD to be intentional this time!_

 _And just when I look down to her pretty pink lips and think "WOW she is going to kiss me"..._

 _So what_

 _I'm still a rock star_

 _I've got my rock moves_

 _And I don't need you_

 _And guess what_

 _I'm having more-_

"Hello?" Emma says after she groans and fishes the cell out of her pocket.

 _The sound of her phone ringing made me jump. It shocked me more than someone shouting BOO from behind ever did. I was too into the moment. Then suddenly the moment was gone. I now had to try and compose myself from the shock and disappointment as she argued with the other person._

"You said 5:30!" She insists.

 _It's clear that she is irritated. Whether it's from our moment being ruined or what the other person is saying was unclear to me._

"Don't take that tone with me Grumps. This was your mistake." She listens. "Yeah yeah, I'll be there in a few." She hangs up without saying another word.

During the last part of the conversation, Regina got up and took the mugs to the sink.

"Leaving?" Regina concludes aloud.

"Yeah, sorry. Apparently we are meeting at 5:00 not 5:30 like I was told and now I'm late." She responds and stands up.

"It's quite alright." Regina says and leads Emma to the door. They then just look at each other hesitantly. "Thank you for everything today."

"Oh no, thank you!" Emma counters. "I had a great time."

"Me too."

Another pregnant pause.

"Okay. I should really go." Emma says and steps out the door.

Regina instinctually reaches out to touch her upper arm and Emma stops. "Good luck with the races." She wishes and quickly kisses Emma's cheek.

Emma blushes prettily. "Thanks." She says and rushes back to her car.

Regina stands there and waits until Emma starts the car and waves before pulling out.

 _I don't know how I had the courage to even kiss her cheek. It happened so quickly that I couldn't savor the moment. When I got into the house I sat on the stool again and buried my face in my arms._

 _The thought of never seeing her again is heart breaking. I shouldn't feel that way, but I do. She made me feel uncomfortable and unsure of myself all day and yet I loved every second of it. Just being in her presence brought me happiness and I would never call what I felt for her today "love" but it feels a hell of a lot like it._

 _I lifted my head up to see a sketch drawn on the back of an envelope in front of me. It was honestly beautiful. Did she draw this for me while I was in the bathroom? What other hidden talents did she have?_

 _And it only occurred to me about 20 minutes too late that I never got her phone number. Now I would never know if she had a love of art or if was a mere hobby to sketch. But what could I do about it now? Go to the dwarves house and give her my number? No, that is dramatic and desperate. Two things that I try to never be._

 _And what would it have mattered if I had her number or not? She comes here once a year, if that? It would be hard to even keep up a friendship with her at that rate._

 _No, this is for the best. I was evidently destined to have this singular almost-perfect day with her and no more._

 _Maybe someday I'll actually believe that..._

 **Spoiler Alert, they see each other again hahaha**

 **Also sorry about any mistakes in spelling or grammar. I'm not really taking the time to proof these like I usually do.**


	8. Destruction

_Hello again,_

 _No, nothing exciting has happened in the last few days._

 _I'm still just moping around and feeling sorry for myself. I know, so attractive right? Katherine yelled at me on the phone when she asked what I did this weekend and I told her I worked and watched television._

 _I didn't tell her about meeting Emma during the week._

 _I feel like I want to keep that a secret. Telling Katherine about Emma but not telling her about my feelings toward the beautiful blonde would diminish the magic of the day. I'm just not ready to talk to her about the fact that I want to be with women. I'm using the fact that I don't want to tell her over the phone as an excuse. I know this, but as far as excuses go, it's a pretty good one._

 _I enjoyed my work/television weekend. I even decided to try and watch some of the Daytona 500. I'll admit that I didn't watch it all though. For a while I didn't understand why anyone watched the sport to be honest. Yes, driving the cars seemed like fun, but it was literally just cars going quickly in a circle._

 _About 30 minutes after I started watching it though I had a revelation._

 _Car number 13 (whose driver I believe was Will Scarlet) got too close to the wall and hit the edge. At his high speed this caused him to spin out and clip two other cars in the process. He was sent smoking and spinning toward the grassy area._

 _All three cars were damaged and smoking by the time the drivers got out and their crews came to meet them._ _I made note that neither of two other cars were driven by Jones._

 _I couldn't look away from the TV! Like most humans I must be predisposed to love watching destruction even as I'm horrified and worried about the outcome._

 _Is that why people watched this sport? I'm sure there is more to it than watching on the off chance of car crashing or setting on fire. I personally felt that I had watched enough for one day after that though._

 _However I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time I watched a race. Maybe I just needed to ease into the sport._


	9. Desert Phone Calls

_I received a phone call today._

 _One of the most important phone calls I have ever received. (Aside from mother telling me you were in the hospital of course.)_

 _Naturally it was the worst day for it to happen too._

 _The remodel of the restaurant started yesterday and they are already running into problems. It has to do with plumbing, which I know nothing about, but I trust that I intimidate the remodeler enough for him not to screw me over._

 _He really does shake in his boots when I walk in. I can't decide if that's wonderful or tragic._

 _Then there was the problem with the new business cards. They arrived this morning and the entire logo is green. Why would they think that was correct? That was certainly not the image that I spent so long trying to recreate it perfectly._

 _The employees that I kept on are all wondering how long they will be out of work for so I also had to call them to keep them updated on the reopening schedule._

 _I feel weak to admit it, but it is days like today when I wish I had a partner. Even just someone to come home and complain to would be nice. I find myself imagining Emma listening when I internally vent, which is honestly pathetic._

 _The only upside was the newfound confidence I had in Ruby. Somehow this flirty young woman can hold her own when it comes to dealing with business matters and has helped me a lot with sorting out all the employee paperwork. I think a management position is in her future if she wants it._

 _Nevertheless, you can imagine the stress that I am under when my cell rings this afternoon._

 _"Hello?"_ Regina picks up distractedly.

 _"Hi, Regina this is Diana."_

 _Things between Miss Hart and I had become quite informal in the last few weeks. She surprised me when we met by being a young friendly woman. After all the interviews and visits in these last weeks we have come to realize that we have a lot in common. And although the decision for a baby to be placed with me wasn't entirely up to her, it was nice to feel like I had someone in my corner._

 _"Oh, hello dear. How are you?"_ Regina asks in a less agitated voice. She steps outside where there is less noise and walks around to the back of the building where everyone smokes. The employees nicknamed it "the desert" because the sun reflects off the near by roof and right onto you making it uncomfortably hot. She usually never goes out there.

 _"I'm well, thank you. I'm actually calling to ask you a question."_

 _"Okay?" Regina responds slightly nervous._

 _"Your application said you were interested in adopting an infant. However I remember you mentioning that you may be open to the idea of adopting an older child. Were you serious about that?"_

 _"Yes."_ Regina responds hesitantly _. "Why?"_

 _"Well the process of adopting an infant can take years. Especially for a single parent. As I'm sure you are aware. And a file landed on my desk today and I, for some reason, instantly thought of you."_ She explains and then pauses. When Regina does not respond right away she continues _. "A young boy. Five years old. No father on record. Mother died during childbirth. He was being raised by her parents until three days ago when they were in a car crash."_

 _"There were no other relatives?" Regina asks._

 _"We were only able to locate a few distant ones and they were either unwilling or unable to take in the child."_

 _"Where is he now?"_

 _"A neighbor who usually babysits agreed to take him in until we can find a more permanent placement."_

 _"And you think I should be that permanent placement?"_

 _"It's a thought. We obviously want to get him settled somewhere as soon as possible. He's been through a lot and the last thing he needs is to be worried about who is taking care of him and where he is living."_

 _It was all so sudden. I know I had been dreaming of having a child for so long but now that I could possibly be close to attaing that dream it was overwhelming. I wasn't prepared. You know I'm a planner. I need to be prepared. I don't have a bedroom ready or clothes or kid food. I am in the middle of this project at work! I assumed it would take so much more time and that when I did adopt it would be a baby that I would mold and get use to them as he or she got use to me. Not a child who had his own life already. One that I would have to worry about signing up for school and having play dates._

 _But who was I to let this opportunity slip by? Was I really going to let WORK get in the way? No, that's something that mother would do. And maybe having an older child would be more suited to my lifestyle right now anyway?_

 _"You don't have to make the final decision right now." Diana says when she notices I've been silent for too long. "We would obviously want you two to meet first. Is that something you'd be interested in?"_

 _"Yes." Regina breathes out._

 _"Excellent. I'll call you back and let you know when they are available." Diana says with a smiles evident in her voice._

 _"Wait"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"What's his name? The boy."_

 _"Oh...Henry."_

 _HENRY_

 _...your name_

 **A few quick notes: First of all, I'm sorry that these chapters are shorter and Emma-free. I'm sure you can understand my reasoning and I promise to have quicker updates because of it.**

 **Second, I don't know a lot about adoption. I've looked it up and there seems to be a few ways to go about it. If I get any facts wrong feel free to inform me. One thing I DO know is that a random pawnshop owner instantly finding an infant for a single mother (who probably has no social security number) is definitely not a legit way to adopt. With that in mind, I'm giving myself some creative liberties.**


	10. Daring To Hope

_Daddy, I'm in love._

 _And with a boy too!_

 _Who would have thought?!_

 _I haven't dreamed of true love since I was a child but look at me now._

 _I'm so energised from today that even as I write my hands are shaking. This is even worse than the day I met Emma! It's as if I had caffeine pumped straight into my heart. I may possibly need to exercise more to strengthen my heart muscles because it has been through more this year than it's use to. Like any muscle that's suddenly getting used more, it ends up sore for days after. It is the most pleasant ache in the world though._

 _As I'm sure you have guessed, this wonderful ache in my heart is due to Henry. I met him today. The whole experience was nerve-wrackingly wonderful._

Regina pulls up to the old, faded-yellow, stucco house at exactly 1 o'clock. The neighborhood isn't the best, but it doesn't necessarily seem unsafe. Still, she triple checks that she has the correct address before exiting the car and making her way toward the front door. She sees Diana's hatchback in the driveway and it confirms that she has the right house. She takes a deep breath and pats down her red blazer before she knocks on the door. Once she does, she immediatedly hears a dog barking and the pattering of little feet.

"Hello." A woman, about Regina's age, with blonde hair, faded jeans, and a heavy accent greets her as the door is opened.

"Hi. I'm Regina Mills." She holds out a hand.

"Muffet Patterson." She responds as she quickly shakes the hand. "Come on in. Miss Hart is already here."

Regina is then led through a fairly messy front hall and into a living room. It didn't appear dirty, just littered with toys and knick knacks. The living room was larger than Regina's but felt small as it too was overcrowded with things. There were two young boys, around 8 years old, showing Diana their toys when Regina walked in.

"Hello." Regina greets.

Diana looks up from the couch and smiles at Regina. She then looks down at her watch.

"I knew you would be punctual so I made sure to arrive early." The bold red-head greets her.

"Aren't you clever." Regina smirks.

"Howard." Muffet addresses one of the little boys. "Can you go get Amy and Henry?"

He nods his head quickly and runs from the room. He comes back with a little girl, who also looked to be about 8, and a much smaller little boy.

 _Seeing the three blonde children together it was clear that they were triplets. But only a slight part of my mind registered them as my eyes were set on Henry._

 _The most precious little brunette boy I had ever seen in my life was standing before me. He was half hidden behind the other children but was staring up at me._

Muffet gathers the other children and takes them into another room and Diana stands up.

"Henry." The red head calls his attention away from Regina for the first time. "This is Regina."

Regina crouches down to the little boys level. "It's very nice to meet you Henry." She says softly and sincerely.

"Hi." He says in small voice.

 _He didn't appear nervous. (Much less nervous than I was, at least.) He only seemed curious. He even quickly stuck out his hand for me to shake. What a little gentleman!_

"You have very good manners Henry." Regina compliments as she shakes the hand.

"Grandma taught me." He answered in a slight southern accent of his own.

"Well she did a very good job."

He blushes a little at the compliment and sits down on the couch. Regina follows him over but makes sure not to sit too close.

"Are you going to be my mommy?" He then asks out of the blue.

Regina's head whips around to look at Diana who is smiling but clearly not willing to help unless she has to.

"Would you like that?" Regina decides to ask.

"I've never had a mommy." He explains as if this answers her question. Which, it did in it's own way.

"I would be honored to be your mommy Henry."

This makes the little boy smile.

"You're like Miss Honey in _Matilda_."

 _I hardly remembered the book at all but I assumed he was talking about the teacher who adopted Matilda at the end of the story._

"Do you like to read?"

"Yeah, I got lots of books. I can show you!" He says excitedly and grabs her hand to drag her into one of the bedrooms.

 _I was startled by the sudden contact but excited that he was warming up to me so quickly._

 _The bedroom had boxes stacked everywhere which I could only assume were filled with his things by the way he was tearing through them to find his books._

For the next half an hour Henry showed Regina all the books he could find. Regina would ask questions to prompt the little boy into sharing more about himself. When they came across two books about the pixar movie _Cars_ , Regina asked if he liked racing.

"Yeah!" He nodded his head enthusiastically. "Grandpa use to watch it _all_ the time."

"I have a friend who helps fix race cars." She informs him.

His eyes go wide. "Cool!"

 _He began to question me on all manner of Nascar related things and I was thanking any higher being out there that I had done some research on the subject._

 _When it was time to leave I wanted to cry. I knew it would be a challenge raising a boy who had been through so much already, but I wanted to be the one to protect him from anymore heartache. I never wanted to leave that little boy again and I had to promise him that I would see him again soon or else I may not have been able to let myself go_ _._

 _Now, I can only hope that everything goes well with the adoption process. If it falls through I will be beyond devastated._

 _I don't know what it is with me lately and forming such strong attachments to people so quickly. I'm not even really trying to form bonds. But maybe that is the key. I'm not trying so hard to find "suitable" people to fill the void in my life. I'm not constantly judging people based on what mother would think when she inevitably finds out who I'm spending time with._

 _I know this is the part where you would half-heartdly try and defend her. You would tell me that she would never forbid me from spending time with someone. Which may be true. But you also know how passive aggressive she could be about her disapproval. And she had a way of making me simultaneously crave her approval and yearn to rebel. This usually led me to doing nothing at all. I wouldn't attend her fancy parties or go on set-ups but I also would stop myself from going after the things I truly wanted._

 _Truthfully I am so conflicted. A sick part of me is happy that she is not here to control my life, and now (hopefully) Henry's. Without her I feel this weight has been lifted off my shoulders. However I feel guilty and terrible because I truly never wished harm on her. She loved me and wanted what was best for me. And without her I wouldn't be the determined and hard-working person I am._


	11. Dreams In The Night

_Last night was Henry's first night at the house! It feels so right to have him here._

 _I've tried to do everything I possibly could to make him comfortable. We spent yesterday afternoon setting up his room. Everything had been left to him when his grandparents died (not that there was much left after everything was paid back).Nonetheless I still have boxes in my garage of sentimental items such as photos that I need to go through._

 _I changed his room some ahead of time to accommodate him, like buying new curtains and bedspreads. My favorite addition (and something he really loved) was the large bookcase I put in to replace the vanity. I promised him that one day he would have enough books to fill the whole thing. I hope he doesn't loose this love for books. He's a really smart boy already and so mature for his age. Books will only continue to further his education. If I'm being honest though, I want him to read for more selfish reasons. Reading is something we will have in common and can discuss. If he suddenly takes an interest in sports as a teenager I don't know if I will be able to understand him as well._

 _He told me his grandmother would read to him every night and I thought that was a wonderful idea. He fell asleep quickly in his new bed after story-time. Reading also gave me a chance to unwind from the day as well as bond with him._

 _Everything seemed to be going fine. I made sure to remind him where my room was and that there was a night light in the hall if he needed me. I had Mrs. Paterson's number in case I needed advice about anything. She also said that she would love for Henry and her triplets to still remain close if they could. The last thing I want is to pull Henry away from more people in his life. However the drive to their house was over two hours so unfortunately I don't know how often they will have play dates._

 _I was just dozing off thinking about soft blonde hair when I heard a cry from his room. My heart immediately dropped to my stomach. It was the first time I had heard him so upset and it felt as though something was extremely wrong with the world. Had you ever felt that way when you heard me cry as a child? I don't remember crying much but maybe I did when I was very young._

 _Needless to say I ran to his room before I even had a conscious thought to do so. He was curled up and whimpering. Clearly in the midst of a nightmare._

Regina crouched down next to the bed and brushed the boys hair off of his forehead.

"Henry, you're okay. Everything's okay." She tried to reassure him.

After a few moments of this he slowly starts to wake up. He reached out for her sleepily. She climbs up onto his bed and holds him while trying to calm him down.

"I want Grandma." He whimpers.

 _As if my heart wasn't already breaking..._

"I'm sorry baby."

"I'm not a baby." He protests weakly.

"I know. You're a very brave boy." She corrects and gives him a extra squeeze. "Do you want to tell me about your dream?"

He shakes his head "no" on her chest. She feels more than sees the gesture.

"That's alright sweetie. I'll stay until you fall asleep again, okay?"

His only response is to snuggle into her further.

 _I didn't end up making it back to my room last night. I fell asleep sharing his tiny twin bed. My back is still sore from the curled position I was in._

 _The bright side is that he had no more trouble during the night. He also woke up this morning VERY early and completely happy. He even called me "silly" for sleeping in his bed._

 _Now, I've just put him to bed again and am anxiously waiting to see if there will be another incident. I'm a little terrified of falling asleep and not hearing him when he needs me. I've been spending the last hour researching the information about raising older children on the internet._

 _The internet is full of very stupid people. Finding revenant and sound information is very difficult and I was growing exceedingly frustrated when I decided it would do be good to get all of my worries down on paper._

 _I think this has helped, but I still wish you were here._


	12. Darla

_I kissed a woman!_

 _(Perhaps you know this already if you're watching over me, but I'd like to think you don't see EVERYTHING I do.) If that's true, I know this may seem sudden, because I haven't written in a few months. It's not really. We had a proper date and all. Through I was reluctant to leave Henry for the night. He didn't seem to mind though. He loves my neighbors, John and Josephine. All their grandchildren are in New York so they like to spoil him with dollar store candy and toys. It's disturbingly hilarious._

 _Back to the date._

 _Diana actually set it up. No, I didn't "come out" to her or anything. Boldly enough, she asked me one of the times she called after the adoption was finalized. She said she had suspected my preference and that the only reason she was asking was because she wanted me to meet someone. Naturally I was reluctant to admit it let alone meet anyone. However when she told me it was her older sister, I knew that I had to. One, so that I didn't appear rude. And two, because if her sister was anything like Diana herself than I knew we would at least get along. She said that her sister was more sophisticated and more like I am. I didn't understand at the time but once I arrived at the table this evening to find a woman in a tailored dress and blazer, I started to understand._

 _Darla, her sister, looks very much like Diana herself: long red hair, skinny nose and perfect teeth. She is nice in a less outgoing way than her sister but makes up for it with smiling a lot. She is a Dentist with a Practice in Palm Coast and insisted that I teach Henry the proper way to floss early in life. Flossing is just another thing that I hadn't thought about when it comes to Henry but am now stressing._

 _We ate at a fancy seafood place facing the beach and she insisted on paying. When we left the restaurant we walked along the beach for a while. Then before we headed back, she asked if she could kiss me. How sweet is that? I don't think I'd ever been asked before. Sure, I've gotten cheesy lines which let me know it was going to happen, but no one had ever been that polite about it._

 _The kiss was nice. There was no spark, but her lips were soft and I got a certain thrill from knowing it wasn't a man._

 _The night ended nicely and we said we'd do it again soon so we'll see how it goes I suppose. I left and got Henry and now here I am._

 _I needed to tell someone. And even though I'm not so lonely now, that person still has to be you._

 **Don't hate me for this chapter and don't worry. These small chapters are all about Regina changing and growing into her own person. There will be SwanQueen really soon though!**


	13. Disclose A Secret

_Hurricane Katherine has come to Florida._

 _As a result I have just ended one of the most chaotic and happy weeks of my life._

 _Katherine and Jim decided to stay with me for a week before Jim's school year starts. Katherine's new law firm allows her time off whenever she wants as long as it doesn't interfere with her cases. I have found that this is one of the downfalls of running your own business; you become married to it. I never seemed to mind being a work-a-holic before but now it would be nice to feel like I had more freedom to take Henry on trips._

 _Katherine had been dying to meet Henry. I never pegged her as baby crazy. Out of the two of us, I was always the one who mentioned children. As soon as she and Jim hit that one year mark in their marriage though, I could slowly see that change in her. They had been practically falling all over Henry this week like he was their practice child. Not that Henry minded the attention. I didn't mind having other adults around either!_

 _It was particularly nice to see Jim and Henry interacting. Sometimes I worry if I'm doing a disservice to the boy by not having any strong male role models around for him. I even expressed these views to Katherine while we were watching the boys play catch on the front lawn._

Katherine smirked over her wine glass at Regina. "Is this the same Mills who always said she didn't need anyone, especially a man to be successful or happy?"

Regina rolled her eyes at her friend. "I still don't" She corrects. "But it doesn't mean that I don't worry that Henry might."

Katherine's smile is warmer this time. "I think you'll be able to give him everything he needs Regina."

Regina reaches over and clasps her friend's hand gratefully.

"So speaking of men and relationships..." Katherine not so subtly starts off. " If my calculations are correct it's been over seven months since you and Robin broke up? I think you should get back on that horse."

 _I had been expecting this conversation and was frankly surprised she waited almost three full days to bring the subject up._

"I've actually had a few dates with someone recently." Regina eases into the admission.

"Shut up!" Katherine schreeches. Jim and Henry look over briefly but continue playing soon. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Because I knew you'd react this way."

"Fine fine." She huffs. "So what's he like? What does he do?" She pries for more details.

"He's a _she,_ actually." Regina says and avoids Katherine's eye by taking a sip from her glass.

"Okay...What's her name? Is she hot? How did you meet?" Katherine continues on as if this change meant nothing. Regina stares at her with an open mouth.

"That's all you have to say?"

"About what?"

"About the fact that I'm possibly dating a woman?!"

"I didn't think you'd want me to make a big thing about it." Katherine explains with a shrug.

"Well it kind of is a big deal. This is a life change for me." Regina could not believe her best friend was so passe about the news.

"And I'm proud of you." Katherine assures her. "But I've known for a while that you at least weren't 100 precent straight."

"What? How?"

"Little things you say or wouldn't say gave me a clue. But if I'm being totally honest, Mary Margaret may or may not have told me she saw you kissing a woman."

"That little bitch!" Regina whispers angrily. "I swore her to secrecy. I have half a mind to fly to that little town in god-knows-where Maine that you and give her a piece of my mind!"

"Calm down, Regina." The blonde says and rubs her hand up and down her arm. "She didn't mean any harm by it. And this was years and years ago. No need to get upset by it now."

"How come you never said anything?"

"I assumed if you wanted to tell me, you would. When you never did, I kind of forgot about it and moved on."

"You're okay with this?" Regina asks after a moment.

"Oh Regina, I hope you haven't been letting what I think stop you from living your life?! I'm happy if you're happy."

"It wasn't really you." Regina corrects with a smile.

"You're mother?" She guesses correctly.

"Mostly." Regina confirms.

"As much as I was sad to see that scary, fabulous woman go, I'm glad she's not stopping you from being happy anymore."

"You always did fangirl over her." Regina smirks.

"Sorry not sorry. She was a bitch with a capital B, but god did she have the most fabulous wardrobe!"

Regina laughs at her friend.

"Enough of that. Tell me about this woman you're seeing." Katherine demands.

"Her name is Darla. She's Diana's sister."

"Diana from the adoption agency?" Katherine clarifies.

"Yes."

"Okay, go on."

"We've been on three dates. Nothing but kissing has happened so get your head out of the gutter." She adds quickly and her friend grins."She is very intelligent, and she has strong opinions but isn't obnoxious about it."

"What does she look like?"

"Pretty, around my height, with beautiful long red hair."

"Sounds like things are going well."

They are." Regina nods.

"You don't sound all that enthusiastic." Katherine comments.

Regina sighs and puts down her glass. "She's wonderful really. We're a lot a like. I just feel like we're friends who happen to kiss sometimes, you know?"

"Isn't that ideal?" Katherine asks to prompt, not accuse.

"Normally I would say yes. But there is just no spark with her."

"Sometime these things take time. It's not always love at first sight. It certainly wasn't for me and Jim."

"I remember, I was there."

"Exactly, you know how sometimes you just have to date and slowly fall in love."

"I suppose. You had an initial connection with Jim though, right? You fought a lot, but you can't even deny that you loved every second of it." When Regina hears no protest she continues. "I don't feel that. I don't constantly want to be in her presence. I don't look at her hair and imagine what it smells like. I don't wonder what she's like when she first wakes up in the morning. She doesn't make me feel like a school girl with a crush. She doesn't make me want retake english classes just so that I could compose poetry about how I feel."

Katherine stares at her friend with a dumbfounded expression. This is how Regina imagined she would look when she first told her she was dating a girl.

"Wow." She finally says. "It's sounds like you've experienced those feelings before."

Regina blushes and looks down.

 _I hadn't realized until I started talking to Katherine that I was subconsciously comparing Darla to Emma. It really wasn't fair of me either. They are very different people. And I don't know Emma. I knew her for a brief moment in time. But who knows what she is like on a daily basis?_

 _Somehow it feels like I got to know Emma on a deeper level during those few hours than I did Darla through these past few weeks._

"I know it's possible to feel that way." Is all Regina is able to tell Katherine at the time.

The blonde lawyer takes a deep breath."I feel like you are thinking too much about it. So what if she isn't you're forever? Enjoy her company while it lasts. If you feel the need to end it, then do that and try to stay friends. Then hopefully you'll have someone to talk about lesbian things with."

Regina laughs at her best friend. "I've missed you."

"Trust me, I've missed you too."

 _When the pair left yesterday it was hard. Really hard. I could tell Henry was sad to see them go too. A part of me was relieved to get back into a normal routine again, especially since I would have to start getting Henry up early for school soon. I know that in a few days it's going to hit me how much I wish she was here though. It's always been like that when we've visited each other._

 _At least now I have Henry._

 **Okay, I promise Emma will appear in the next chapter! Thanks for sticking with it!**


	14. Deck The Halls

_Merry Christmas!_

 _And what a lovely Christmas it has been too!_

 _It was by far the warmest Christmas of my life but somehow it still felt more like a holiday than ever before. Having a child in the house during the season completely changes the mood of the holiday. Suddenly the songs sound less annoying, the hot chocolate is tastier, and there is simply more joy in the air._

 _Maybe I'm biased because I had such a lovely Christmas Eve and Day._

 _Diana had invited Henry and I over for Christmas Eve with her friends and family. I wanted to be polite, and other children were going to be there so I accepted. I'm really glad I went too. Her family was so much fun. Her parents are from England and they told me about all of the traditions they had. They had Henry write another letter to santa and throw it in the fire place so that he could read the wishes in the smoke. Henry also stuffed himself on pies and pudding. It was lovely, and they welcomed me so warmly._

 _It was the first time I was seeing Darla since we broke up, which I thought would be awkward, but it wasn't. She was actually the one who initiated the "we're better as friends conversation" and even though I agreed whole-heartdly, it still hurt my ego a little. It was an irrational feeling though so I put it aside and found that it was actually much nicer to talk with her without the pressure of a dating._

 _Despite how lovely the time was last night, I know I owe my good mood entirely on today. Today, I received the best Christmas present! Actually TWO of the best presents I could have asked for!_

 _Henry woke me up at an ungodly hour this morning. However the way he did it completely made up for my lack of sleep._

Henry creeped into his mother's room and peaked over the side of the bed where she lay. He then poked her in the face a few times.

"Mommy!" He whispered loudly. "Mommy! It's Christmas!" He repeated excitedly.

Regina slowly opened one eye and looked at the grinning boy. She then grabbed Henry suddenly and hurled him onto the bed with her and squeezed him tight.

He squealed and wiggled around in her grasp.

 _I don't think I'll ever get use to being called "Mommy." My heart warms every time I hear it. In the first few weeks of having Henry here (before he was completely comfortable and the adoption was finalized) I thought I would be okay if he called me "Gina" forever. However hearing the new title, I don't think I could go back to being called anything else._

"Merry Christmas Henry!"

"Presents!"

"How about we have breakfast first?"

Henry pouts for a moment before perking up again. "Can we have French Toast?!"

"Sure we can!"

 _The morning was hectic and filled with many more squeals of excitement. Henry opened all of his presents excitedly and graciously. He said thank you after every single one he opened. Naturally I used this opportunity to spoil him so I received many "thank yous" this morning. He particularly loved the books I got him. He tried insisting that I read all of them tonight before he went to bed but thankfully he fell asleep half way through the first one. He was tired from such an early morning and eventful day._

 _I've never enjoyed watching someone else open a gift so much. But even so, Henry got me presents too! One was an ornament that he made in school. It was a cut-out of his handprint and had green and red glitter all over it. The second was a drawing. It had two figures in red. One was larger than the other and had hair. This was clearly me and him. We were surrounded by green trees. On the bottom of the page was "i lOVe YOu!" in squiggly letters. He informed me that his teacher showed him how to write it._

 _I'm not ashamed to say that I cried. He was worried about the reaction at first. I had to explain to him that they were happy tears and that it was the best gift I had ever received. Our refrigerator is stainless steel but the sides are magnetic so I hug it up right beneath the long envelope with the sketch on it that I almost forget was there._

 _After presents Henry fell asleep while watching "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer." He woke up crying again. It wasn't an everyday occurence, but it happened often enough for me to have a routine in place. I quickly grabbed the framed photo of him and his grandparents off his night stand and gave it to him. Then I held him until he cried himself to sleep again._

 _He always wakes up so refreshed and happy. It's like every time he wakes up the world has a chance to be wonderful again. I envy him for that. Once he was fully awake, I asked him if he'd rather stay in his pajama's all day of if he wanted to watch the Carolers that were doing a performance in the state park. He said that he wanted to sing so I packed us up. Before we were able to head out, Katherine called to wish us a Merry Christmas. Henry had her on the phone so long telling her about his gifts that I was sure we were going to be late. Somehow we made it there just in time._

 _The park was full of people. It was a fairly large area right next to the intracostal waterway and had an amazing view. I was constantly worried to let Henry out of my sight with the water so near by though. I had agreed to let him sit up by the makeshift stage with the rest of the children but this meant that I was watching him more than the performers._

"Regina!"

 _I was so focused on Henry and the voices singing "Deck the Halls" that the sound of my name made me jump. I spun around and there she was._ _I swear she was like a Christmas present from the universe._ _Emma Swan. She was wearing a red leather jacket and had the added addition of a grey beanie on her head. Her smile when I turned around was so wide, it was like seeing me made her day. And those feelings that I had been trying to suppress since the day I met her were back, and attacking harder than ever._

"Emma" Regina eventually breathed out.

"You remember me!" Emma says happily.

 _She was worried I wouldn't remember HER? As if. I can't believe SHE remembered ME._

"How could I forget?" Regina smiles.

 _I had to shove my hands into my pockets to resit from grabbing Emma and hugging her until it hurts. Emma doesn't seem like the hugging type. That's another thing Henry changed about me. I've found that physical affection is much more freely given._

 _Thinking of this reminded me of Henry and I frantically spun around until I could see him still sitting up front from the corner of my eye._

"How have you been?" She asks.

"Ah. Busy. Very Busy." Regina answers truthfully. "How about you? From what I saw your team had a pretty good season."

"It was't great, but it was good enough." She says with a shrug.

 _I swear this woman is incapable of taking a compliment._

"How long are you here for?"

"Just today. It's a pretty long drive from North Carolina just to only spend one night, but it was Christmas so I thought what the hell."

"Very festive of you."

"I was actually hoping I would run into you while I was here."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. You make quite the impression Mills."

"Good."

 _I don't know how I pulled off being so calm and flirty when a beautiful woman, that I thought I would never see again, was standing right in front of me!_

"I'm sorry, are you here with people?" Emma asked when she saw Regina look over at Henry again. "I'm probably keeping you. I just wanted to say hi and keep you company if you were here alone." She says genuinely worried she was intruding on Regina's day.

"Um..." Before Regina could think of how to answer that question she hears "Mommy!" And looks over to see Henry coming toward her.

Emma's eyes widen significantly at the term but she doesn't move or say anything.

"Emma, this is my son Henry." She introduces as she hugs the boy to her side nervously.

"Hi." Emma waves to the boy who just smiles back at her silently. "I didn't know you had a son." She remarks to Regina. There isn't any accusation in her voice, just confusion.

"That's because I didn't."

"What?"

 _I could see the gears turning in her head as she tries to make sense of my statement._

"Henry's adopted." I say to put her out of her misery.

"But just because I didn't live in her tummy, doesn't mean she loves me any less." Henry recites the well-worn phrase to Emma.

"That's right, Henry!" Regina says and kisses the top of his head.

Understanding crosses Emma's features but she still looks as if she's thinking too hard.

"Henry did you need something?" Regina takes the opportunity to ask her son.

"I'm cold." He says. It was about 60 degrees out but by the water the wind could be brutal.

"Ah. Okay." She responds and takes his gloves and hat out of her purse and puts them on him. All the while Emma is watching them with a small smile. "Henry. Miss Swan is my friend that fixes race cars."

"Really?!" He says and faces the blonde completely. The little boy suddenly is much less shy around his mother's friend.

"You like racing?" Emma turns her attention to the boy.

The brunette boy nods his head"yes" frantically. "Like Lightn' McQueen! Do you fix him when he's sick?"

"Well I've never met him personally, but I do fix other sick cars." She explains. "I think other cars take care of him like in the movie."

"You see it?" He asks the blonde, too excited to form proper sentences anymore.

"Of course! Nator is so funny."

"He's a tow-truck!"

"Yup! Is he your favorite?"

 _I watched them interact in amazement. Henry was friendly for a little kid (much friendlier than I am) but this was a new level. I loved the way she spoke to him too. She didn't talk down to him at all. It was like she was discussing a cartoon with another adult. Why did she even know this movie so well? It's a fairly new one._ _One of my chefs told me that it was a requirement for every chef to see "Ratatouille" so maybe the same rule applies with "Cars" and racers?_

"No! Lightin!" He answers excitedly.

"I bet your mom likes Chick Hicks!" Emma says and Henry makes a face at the name of the villain in the first movie.

"I actually prefer Miles Axlerod."

"But he's a bad guy!" Henry shouts.

Emma laughs. "I should have known you would like him more, he's more sophisticated."

Regina smirks, but her reply is drowned out by the sudden applause in the park. They are away from the main crowd but it is still loud.

"What?" Emma chuckles.

Regina shakes her head in dismissal.

"I think the show is over." She says instead as she looks out onto the stage where the performers are bowing.

"I better go find the dwarves before they leave me here and I don't get Christmas diner."

"Dwarves?" Henry asks. He's getting really into fairy-tales lately.

"Yeah. Seven of them." Emma whispers.

"Are you Snow White?!"

"Nope. Sorry kid."

"You keep telling me that, but somehow I'm not buying the woodland creature thing." Regina interjects.

"Who am I then?" Emma asks with genuine curiosity.

"I'm not sure yet."

"We'll have to figure it out next time then."

"Next time?"

"Yeah...I assume I will see you when I come back in February."

"I hope so." Slips out of Regina's mouth.

Emma and Regina smile at each other for a few moments before Henry interrupts with a tug on his mother's hand.

"Well, we better let you go." Regina says.

"Yeah." Emma says with disappointment creeping into her voice. "It was nice to meet you Henry."

"Bye!" He waves.

"See you soon, Regina." She says before walking away to go find her friends.

 _Not soon enough._


	15. Ding Dong

_Emma's back!_

 _I don't know what I expected when she said that she would see me again, but I certainly didn't expect her to show up at my doorstep on a random friday afternoon._

 _I had been waiting in the back of my mind for the racing season to begin since I last saw her. These last few weeks have been insanely busy (business is picking up at the restaurant and Henry had a project due at school) and it actually didn't register WHY business was booming._

 _The Daytona 500 is this weekend._

 _And I'm going!_

 _Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself in the story telling. Let's start when I heard the doorbell ring..._

Regina had just arrived home from work and was changing her outfit when the doorbell rang.

 _Ding Dong_

"Shi-shoot" She says correcting her language at the last second. Even though Henry wasn't around she was still trying to stop cursing.

"Coming!" She yells and throws on the first pair of pants she sees (which happen to be the spandex shorts she slept in last night) to go under her partially unbuttoned blouse.

She rushes to answer the door and as soon as it opens she stops short.

"Hi." Emma says with her hands in her back pockets. She is wearing a loose t-shirt with the Nascar logo and jeans.

 _I was enchanted. I couldn't believe she was standing there. I was just watching how the breeze played with strands of her_ _hair._

"Um, sorry to just show up at your house-" Emma starts off nervously when Regina says nothing.

"No!" Regina practically shouts to cut off her thinking. "Hi. Hello. I just didn't expect to see you. Please come in."

Only after she closes the door and see's her reflection does she remember what she looks like.

"Sorry I'm a mess. I was just getting changed when I heard the door."

"Nah. You look cute." Emma says genuinely.

Regina looks away before she can blush. "I'll go put on real pants and be right back. Make yourself at home."

She forces herself not to run to her room to get kaki's on. When she comes back out, Emma is standing in front of the refrigerator.

"You kept my drawing." Emma says and points to the sketch that is hanging up.

"It was a nice drawing."

"I can't believe you used it as the logo of your restaurant." Emma says and looks at her in wonderment.

"You saw?"

"I actually went there before I came here. I asked if you were there and they said you had already left for the day."

"I have to get Henry off the bus in the afternoons."

"Ahh, I was wondering where the kid was. I can get out of your hair so I don't ruin your routine."

"Nonsense. You at least have to stay until he gets home. He'll want to see you."

 _Thank goodness I didn't shout what I wanted to say which was "You can't leave me yet!"_

"Okay."

"So, what did you think of the restaurant renovation?"

"Really nice. I'm going to convince everyone to go there."

"I appreciate that."

"I love the name too, "Queen's Steakhouse"

"I thought you might since your sketch inspired it." She informs the other woman.

"Really?"

"Yes. How else could I make a swan with a crown my logo?" She says referring to the drawing. "Plus, my name means queen so it worked perfectly."

"So any success you have is basically due to me."

"Yes. thank you." She says sarcastically. "When Henry found out he was so excited. I think he still has thoughts in the back of his mind that I'm secretly a real queen." She adds with a laugh.

"I'm sure you love that he believes that too."

"It wouldn't have been good to discourage his imagination." She defends.

 _Emma gave a full laugh in response and it was like music, I swear. I've never been called a funny person so making her laugh, like really laugh, feels like such an accomplishment._

"It's about time to get Henry. The stop's only at the end of the street. Do you want to stay here or do you want to come with me?"

"I'll come with you." She offers and stands up.

They walk out, not even bothering to take anything or lock the door. Soon enough they are at the stop sign and see a bus coming from down the road.

Henry practically runs off the bus and hugs his mother already talking a mile a minute about his day. He soon notices another person though and stops short.

"Hi! You fix sick cars." He rememebers.

"Yes, I do."

"And you have a bird's name."

"This is Miss Swan, remember Henry." His mother reminds him.

"You can call me Emma." The blonde tells Henry. "Why do you always introduce me as Miss Swan?" She asks the older woman.

"It's polite." Regina defends herself.

Emma simply chuckles and shakes her head.

"Emma are you coming for ice-cream?" Henry asks.

"Ice cream?"

"It's a friday reward to get ice cream." Regina explains. "You are more than welcome to join us."

 _Good boy, Henry! I was so happy he had invited her that I let him get as many toppings as he wanted on the ice cream! Is that bad parenting_?

"I'm always up for ice cream."

"Yay!"

The group walked back to the house and waited for Henry to put his school things away before heading out again. They all got into Regina's Mercedes and were on their way.

"Nice car." Emma says and strokes the interior.

"Thanks. It was actually my mother's. Although she never drove so I don't know why she bothered."

"If you've always lived in the city why did you even learn to drive?"

"My father insisted and I am glad that he did. We use to spend a few weeks in the summer upstate on a ranch. I learned to horseback ride and drive a car there as a teenager."

"Sounds like something out of a book." Emma comments.

"Oh yes. There were romances and everything." Regina adds with a wink.

"Really? Okay, now I need to know the story."

"Another time." Regina says and looks back at Henry to make it clear.

Emma gets the hint and starts asking Henry about all the ice cream flavors he likes.

They go to a local ice cream shop by the pier. There are a few customers sitting on the benches outside but it is still early in the day so the inside of the shop is empty.

Henry runs up to the coolers and tries to peak his head over.

"I can't see." He complains.

Emma, who is standing next to him, easily picks him up and sets him on her hip. The blonde then (as if realizing what she did) looks over to Regina for assurance that it was okay for her to pick him up.

 _I always amazes me how Emma can go from confident to insecure in a second. She'll look at me with big, unsure, doe eyes that have me wanting to do nothing but hug the expression right off of her._

 _I didn't hug her though, I simply smiled and placed a hand on Henry's back. It was nice not to have to pick him up for once. He was getting very heavy._

Soon Regina had bought them all ice cream and they were making their way across the street to the small boardwalk. They sat on a bench and ate their ice cream while looking out over the ocean.

 _I made a mental note that she picked Rocky Road flavor. It wasn't intentional but I found myself cataloging everything I discovered about the other woman._

 _Henry, sugar-rushed from ice cream and multiple toppings, insisted that he run around on the beach once he was done eating. I gathered up our shoes and left them by the steps and we watched as stuck his toes into the wet sand._

It wasn't long before Emma grabbed Regina's hand and pulled her farther onto the beach and touching the ocean spume.

"Stop!" Regina pathetically attempts to resist but with Emma holding her hand she can't seem to find the sass that usually comes so quickly.

"I'm not going to pull you under." Emma assures. "I just want to walk with my feet in the water."

"I'm going to ruin my pants with all this sand and salt-water!"

"If your clothing is stopping you from living, then you're wearing the wrong type of clothes." She states matter-of-factly and lets go of Regina's hand. She then begins to chase after Henry.

 _I watched nervously as Henry ran closer and closer to the water. I trusted that Emma wouldn't let anything happen to him though so I tried to relax and just enjoy seeing them interact._

 _As I stood there the spin-drift hit me at full force. I could feel little water droplets on my face and shirt and I realized that maybe Emma was right. The outfit I was wearing wasn't even one of my nicer ones and nature would see that it was tarnished whether I wanted it to be or not anyway._

 _I rolled up my pants and walked further into the water until the waves were lapping against my ankles. I gazed out a took a deep breath. I felt a calm that can only posses you when looking out at some great expanse of nature._

"Every time I look out over the ocean," Emma begins from somewhere near her. "I feel like my problems don't matter. Most of the time, that's a comfort. But sometimes..."

"It's scary?" Regina questions.

"Yeah. Maybe even a little depressing. It's like, if my problems don't matter than do I matter?"

Regina turns to look at her. "You matter." She says seriously. She is not smiling but confident in her words before she turns to watch Henry not too far away.

"Henry we have should head home." His mother calls out to him. He runs up to her and holds her hand as they walk back to the car.

"Will you stay for dinner?" She offers to Emma.

"Sure. Thanks." Emma says breaking out of her musings.

The ride home is quieter, and however short, Henry falls asleep in the back seat.

When they arrive back at the house Emma offers to carry him inside. Regina accepts graciously and asks her to place him on the couch. She knows the nap won't last long so she's not going to bother with the bed.

"Do you want help with diner?" Emma offers.

"I thought you couldn't cook?" She asks.

"You could teach me?" She suggests. "Im a quick learner."

"Maybe you should just observe for today."

Emma shrugs at the suggestion and leans on the counter to watch the cooking process.

 _I could feel her eyes on me while I was moving around the kitchen. I can't say that I hated the flushed feeling it left me with._

 _I turned to give her a look that would let her know that I knew she was watching me, but my plan failed me when she stepped closer._

 _My heart was in my throat as Emma swiped her thumb across my cheek._

"You had flour on your cheek." Emma explains softly but doesn't move away.

 _Her fingers were cold but they somehow still left a trail of fire where they had touched my skin._

"Thanks."

 _Before anything else could happen though a sleepy Henry stumbles into the kitchen area._

Henry makes grabby hands at Regina, who steps aside to turn off the stove before picking him up. He snuggles into her shoulder for a moment to wake up then peaks out at Emma.

"Have a good nap?" The blonde asks.

He nods his head in confirmation.

"Henry how about you show Emma your toys while I set up dinner?" Regina suggests.

Regina uses the small time apart to clear her head. Soon enough though they are back and everyone is eating dinner. It's a chicken and rice dish but by the way Emma raved about it you would think it was 100$ lobster.

"Mommy! You HAVE to see Emma's tick!"

"Trick." Emma corrects.

"Yeah! It's like magic."

"Okay let's see this magic trick." Regina agrees and uncharacteristically leaves the dishes in the sink for later.

Henry runs from the room but comes back quickly with his rubix cube. He promptly starts turning it and twisting it in all sorts of ways to mess up the pattern.

Emma smirks at Regina while Henry does this. It takes him a while before he is satisfied but he eventually hands the cube to the blonde.

She smiles and looks a the cube and immediately starts working on it. Both the Mills watch her quick fingers turn the cube this way and that.

About 30 seconds later Emma presents Henry with the completed cube.

Regina slowly claps. "Impressive."

"I have some hidden talents." She responds wit a wink.

"Oh I'm sure you do."

"You have to teach me that!"

"Maybe some day, kid. It took me a while to learn."

"Why did you learn in the first place?" Regina questions.

Emma shrugs. "I was bored. And it was better than throwing the thing against the wall."

Regina chuckles and agrees.

"Well, I should probably go, I have to meet with the team early in the morning."

"Oh, okay." Regina says trying to hide her disappointment.

"I was wondering... if your not doing anything would you guys want to go to the race on Sunday?"

Henry looks at his mom excitedly.

"I think that's a yes." Regina responds happily.

"Cool. I'll drop the tickets off in your mail box after I get them. I'll give you my number though if you have any questions or anything."

"Okay." Regina says and hands Emma her phone.

After the exchange is made they walk Emma to the door. Henry hugs her and she assures him that she will see him on Sunday.

 _I took the plunge and hugged her too. Henry gave me the courage and I didn't let myself question the decision._

 _She smelt like ocean and honey and I wanted it to last so much longer than the brief moment that it did. But of course she had to leave and I knew it was for the best since I had to get Henry through his nightly routine._

 _I know I'm going to have more trouble than he did falling asleep. Every time I see this woman she becomes more and more fascinating. It also gets harder and harder to stop thinking about her._

 _I have her number now though! I didn't let the same mistake happen for a third time._

 _I also have a promise of seeing her again soon!_


	16. Drivers And Jealousy

_The Daytona 500 was yesterday!_

 _I wanted to write about the experience last night but I was too exhausted! Sunday morning started very early. I knew it would be hard to get Henry up and out in the morning, especially with how excited he was. He was practically bouncing around the house. I knew it would be a long day and even having gotten use to carrying around a big purse to fit everything Henry might need, I still decided to borrow his blue backpack for the day but of course that was misplaced so we spent another 15 minutes trying to find it._

 _We did eventually make it to the Daytona International Speedway though. We even had special parking due to our VIP status passes. The passes and their lanyards showed up in our mailbox sometime on Saturday. I had texted Emma to let her know we had gotten them and she told me to text her when we arrived at the speedway the next day._

 _Apparently part of the passes she gave us included a "pit pass" so she wanted us to come early so she could introduce us to some of her crew members and racers. We went straight there after arriving since we were only allowed access for a limited time before the race started._

 _Henry was amazed to basically be out on the track. He kept staring wide-eyed up at the stands and saying how big everything was._

 _Emma met us by the gate and I swear our eyes locked through the crowd. It was like a dam movie._

 _She was leaning in against the gate in full uniform of blue and black sponsor shirt and fitted black pants. Her hair was in a tight pony tail and she had she aviators on._

 _As soon as she saw us she flagged us down and excitedly gave us hugs. Then she pulled us over to the other side of the gate._

"Emma! It's so big here!" Henry says.

"I know! The cars look like ants from the highest seats." She agrees. "But you guys won't have to worry about being able to see." She mock whispers.

"Thank you again for the tickets, Emma. You really didn't have to get us such special accommodations."

"I wanted to! To be honest I've never been able to use my connections to spoil anyone before."

"You never brought your dwarves?" Regina asks curiously.

"Nah. They have season tickets anyway so they don't need me. Speaking of which..." She says and pulls two baseball caps out of her back pocket. "these are for you guys." She says and hands the hats with the Nascar logo on them to the two brunettes.

"Cool!" Henry exclaims. Regina nudges him and he immediately follows with "Thank you Emma!"

"Let me help you put that on." Emma offers and crouches down to help Henry.

 _As soon as she is crouched a whistle goes out from behind her. She turns her head and glares at the perpetrator before focusing on Henry again._

 _I immediately recognize Killian Jones from the photos I had looked up months ago. Even if I hadn't recognized him the screaming fans on the other side of the gate and his uniform would have been enough to give him away._

"Swan. I never thought you could look so maternal." He calls as he signs an autograph through the gate.

"Har Har." She says without turning around.

"And who is this lovely creature." He says eyeing Regina and finally walking up to the three of them.

Now Emma finally turns to face him.

"Back off Killian." Her tone isn't harsh but it is serious.

"No harm, love." He says with a wink to Regina. Then he turns to Henry and in a much nicer tone says "And who is this strapping young fellow."

"This is Henry." Regina introduces.

"Hi!" Henry says. "Do you drive a race car?"

"Yes I do! Are you going to route for me to win today?"

"You on Emma's team?" He asks.

"Yes, Swan is on my team." He subtly tries to correct.

"Then I hope you win!" He says as Killian eyes Emma questioningly.

"Did you hear that Huntsman?!" Killian shouts to another racer nearby "This young lad says I will win!"

The racer whom he addressed wakes his way over. He is wearing a green jumpsuit and Regina can't recall seeing him before.

"He only said that because he doesn't know of all of my skills yet. I did beat you last night." The other racer comments. Then he looks at Regina and smiles. "Graham Humbert." He introduces.

"Regina Mills." She says and shakes his hand.

"What a beautiful name." He says.

"Okay!" Emma interrupts.

 _I could swear she was scowling. It seemed like she was jealous of the attention I was getting. Although I can't be sure, maybe she simply didn't like this Graham. She had already made her feelings about Jones's ego known. A girl could hope though._

"Would you like a picture Henry?" Emma asks him after the outburst.

"Yeah!"

"Let's have someone else take it so everyone can be in it." Graham suggests.

So they proceed to find another crew member milling about and stand for a picture. After that, the men move on to mingle with other fans and Emma ushers them to another area.

"This is the garage." She says with a sweep of her hand. "Normally the passes you have would let you go in but Henry is a minor and it can be kind of dangerous so this is as far as we'll go today."

"This is where you spend your time?" Regina guesses.

"Yup! It can be hectic but I love that."

Before Regina could respond they were once again interrupted.

"Emma!" An excited voice says from near by.

 _An older woman, well not old, but older than I am came over and put her arm around Emma's shoulders. She was around 50 and had long brown hair. _

"Mila!" Emma responds happily. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"I know, it's my fault honey. Sometimes coming to the races depresses me. I miss it." She comments. "Now be polite, Emma and introduce me to your companions." She lightly chastises.

"Mila, this is Regina and Henry Mills."

As the women shake hands and Mila high-fives Henry, Emma continues, "Mila is the best woman racer in history."

"Mila Gold?" Regina asks with some recognition of the name.

"Gold-Cassidy." The other woman corrects. "Divorced." She explains and wiggles her ringless fingers for her to see. "I was already known by that name though so I had to keep it."

"I understand."

"Mila is who got me into the Nascar world."

"Really? How did you manage to meet her?" Regina asks amazed that someone so prominent was Emma's connection to the sport.

"My son." Mila says simply and brushes off the subject. "I'm interested in how you met my Emma though. She's never introduced me to anyone before." She comments and looks at Emma. "You've been holding out on me."

"I haven't talked to you in a while." Emma reminds her. "And Regina and Henry live around here. I met her last year before the races."

"Have you ever been to a race before?" Mila asks Henry.

"No!" He says excitedly. "I want to drive the cars!"

Everyone laughs. "Maybe someday, Henry." Emma says.

"You remind me of Emma during her first race. Even though she was much older than you she was still just as excited. She practically begged me to drive her around in the car afterwards." Mila laughs again in remembrance.

Emma flushes and hits Mila's arm. "And eventually I got to dive one myself so some dreams do come true." She says defensively.

"Yes, they do. So have hope Henry." She agrees with a wink. "Well I better be off. You have work to do Emma. It was wonderful to meet you both." She adds before wandering off to another area.

"Are we keeping you?" Regina asks once Mila is gone.

"Oh no, I still have a few minutes before I should get back." She assures them. "You arrived quite early."

"You told me to!"

"I know and I'm glad you did." She grins. " I can hear that the pre-race concert has started so I'll take you over to the Sprint Fanzone. You guys and check out the concert or something before finding your seats."

 _I was reluctant to walk over. First of all, because the music was getting very loud the closer we got and I knew it would be a matter of time before I got a head ache. Some country singer that I vaguely recognized from the radio was playing. Maybe country music is just another one of those things that I will eventually learn to like while living in the south.(If you can consider Florida the "south.")_

 _Emma was singing along to the song which was adorable and I wish I could have actually hear her voice through all the noise._

 _Secondly, I didn't want to go over because I knew once we did, Emma would be leaving us. Even though we had been with her for an hour already it didn't seem like long enough._

 _I don't think any amount of time would have been long enough._

"Henry do you want to take a picture with the race car on display?" Emma asks him once they are in the fanzone. It was much more crowded here than in the other areas Emma brought them.

"Yeah!"

So they wait behind a family taking pictures and step up to the car.

"Y'all guys taking the picture with me?" Henry asks.

 _I'm trying so hard to correct his grammar and he doesn't really have an accent but with certain phrases and words I still become reminded that he grew up with other people. It already feels like he's been with me forever and I can't imagine life any differently._

"No Henry, I think I've taken one too many photos today."

"Come on!" Emma says and takes the phone out of the other woman's hand. She then asks the security guy to take the photo for them.

"It's cute!" She says looking at it afterwards before handing the phone back to Regina.

 _I normally don't really like to take photos but I had to agree it WAS cute. Once I was able to look away from the other two in the photo I became struck by my own face. I don't think I'd ever looked so happy in a photo._

 _Soon after that, Emma unfortunately parted from us. It was sad. It felt like a graduation where you are leaving your friends and don't know when the next time you will see them again will be._

 _I know if worse comes to worse that I will see her this time next year but the thought of waiting that long makes my heart physically hurt._

 _As soon as she left us, I noticed she was immediately accosted by a woman in a similar uniform to hers except red and white. She had brown hair tied into a bun and bitchy resting face. I knew it was just her face because she soon turned and gave me an actual glare. It was not a pleasant look and it's one that I immediately returned to her. She looked me up and down while taking to Emma. It wasn't a leering look like the way the men did earlier, it was like sizing up a threat._

 _I couldn't help but wonder if maybe this was a girlfriend that Emma hadn't mentioned. I assumed she didn't have one but we really hadn't talked about it since last year and a lot of things can change in that amount of time._

 _I still have lingering thoughts of this woman in my head but after the two were out of my sight I decided not to think about it. Emma is my friend and if this woman was important she would have mentioned her to me earlier. I was not going to let these thoughts ruin the rest of my day with Henry._

 _Henry, who by the way, made me stay and watch most of the concert before seeing a bouncy castle. We spent the entire pre-race time in this area before going to our seats at the last minute. Thank god I brought Advil with me._

 _Our seats were, of course, fantastic. Not that we were sitting most of the time since Henry wanted to get up for snacks or the bathroom or something else about a hundred times. Mom use to always yell at me for exaggerating so I'll admit that it was more like six times. But still, it was a lot. Although I didn't mind too much because we didn't miss anything exciting._

 _Thankfully, no one crashed this race._

 _That sick little part of me would have liked to see a crash happen since we were up close. Although after meeting some of the racers I could only be grateful that no one got hurt during the race._

 _I had, on a whim, texted the picture of the three of us by the race car to Katherine and Emma sepreately. Katherine had no idea we were even going to the races and I immediately got a text back...or more like multiple texts._

 _Katherine: Why are you by a race car?_

 _Katherine: More importantly, who is that woman?_

 _Katherine: I thought I was the only hot blonde you knew!_

 _Regina: Her name is Emma. She got us tickets to the race today._

 _Katherine: I expect all the details later._

 _Regina: There isn't much to tell._

 _Katherine: If you don't tell me I'll just ask Henry. He'll tell Aunt Katherine all about it!_

 _I still haven't talked to her yet but I know she is expecting a phone call from me today._

 _Emma took longer to respond, and it was only on the (very tiring) drive home that I heard the beep from an incoming message._

 _Emma: Thank you so much for sending this to me! I hope you and Henry had fun today!_

 _Even though I was dead on my feet by the time I got a sleeping Henry into his pajamas and bed I still sent her a text back._

 _Regina: We did! Thank you again for such a wonderful day. And congratulations on coming in second!_

 _Emma: I'll make sure to tell Killian that Henry is proud of him_

 _Regina: Please do. He was really neck and neck with Booth at the end._

 _Emma: yeah you can bet him and August are going to be bickering the rest of the season about that_

 _Regina: I hope you don't get caught up in the arguments_

 _Emma: Nope! I steer clear of all that_

 _Regina Was that a driving pun?_

 _Emma: Yeah, did the joke land? I can never tell in texts_

 _Regina: It was appreciated for the effort_

 _Emma: You totally thought it was lame! I don't care. I love puns! Anyway I'll let you go to sleep. I'm sure Henry has school in the morning._

 _Regina: I actually think I might bring him in late tomorrow. I don't see the harm if it's only one day. However, I should still go to sleep._

 _Emma: Sweet dreams and I hope you at least let yourself sleep in a little tomorrow!_

 _Regina: Goodnight Emma_


	17. Deleted Numbers

_This past week had been hard._

 _The restaurant was busy with the residual people left from the races. Bike week is also starting soon so I had to get all of the promotional ads ready and published for that._

 _Henry has also been very cranky this week. After all the excitement and junk food from the weekend, it seems to be taking him a long time to recover. He's never fought me so much about getting up for school before. He's in kindergarten...he still likes school._

 _I had also not been in the mood to deal with all of this._

 _Is there anything more pitiful than missing someone so much that you're distracted from life, yet you have no idea if they've even given you a second thought? I'm sure there is...but that has to at least be a close second._

 _I somehow managed to tell Kat about Emma without sounding as hopelessly infatuated with the woman as I am. I knew that she would pump Henry for information if I didn't talk to her so I gave her just enough information to stop her curiosity. She said she thinks that its "cute that you have a crush" but it was clear from the fact that she didn't ask a million questions that she didn't think it was or would be anything serious._

 _Unfortunately it's serious like a heart attack. (Not to make light of heart attacks as I know you've had two, Daddy) My heart feels like it's being squeezed when I think about her._

 _This is why, when she called tonight, I almost had a panic attack._

 _It was nine o'clock at night I was just getting ready to settle in for the night after Henry fell asleep when I heard the phone ring._

 _I looked at the caller ID and it said "Emmazing Swan" (Which she had originally put into my phone when she gave me her contact). I laughed forgetting about the name and then choked on the laugh when I realized this meant that she was on the other line._

 _"Hello?" Regina answered quickly._

 _"Hey Regina, it's Emma."_

 _"I know dear, phones do come with caller ID's now."_

 _"Har. Har. Maybe you deleted my number or something. How was I supposed to know?"_

Regina quickly puts on her pajama pants and settles onto her bed with the phone cradled to her ear.

 _Why does she always seem to contact me when I'm in some state of undress? It's like she knows or something._

 _"Why would I have deleted your number?_

 _"I don't know! People can be strange, Regina."_

 _"Does that mean you think I'm strange?"_ Regina asks just to tease the other woman. She's finding it fun to rile her up.

 _"What?! No of course not!"_

Regina's laugh interrupts the other woman's protests.

 _"You're a little mean."_ Emma comments with a smile in her voice.

 _"I've been called worse."_ Regina responds with her own smile.

 _"Who called you worse? I'll beat them up."_

 _"Aren't you just a knight in shining armor."_

 _"Well every queen needs a knight."_

 _"I suppose you did save me when we first met."_

 _"I wouldn't normally call that 'saving' but sure we can consider that my first knightly act."_

 _"Your first?"_

 _"You never know. Although you don't really seem like the damsel in distress type."_

 _"Definitely not."_

 _"Oh, well. Maybe you'll still find a reason to keep me around."_

 _"I'm sure I could find a use for you."_ Regina says flirtatiously.

 _"Yeah, like what?"_

 _"Well..."_ She drawls out to keep her waiting. _"You ARE tall. I'm sure you can change the lightbulbs and get things off of the top shelf."_

 _"You're in luck"_ Emma chuckles. _"I happen to be very good at those things."_

 _"I suppose I am."_ Regina says and trails off.

 _The conversation had flowed so easily up until now that I hadn't even stopped to wonder why the other woman was calling._

 _"So...not that it's not always a pleasure to hear from you, but was there a particular reason for your call?"_

 _"Oh um no."_ There was a loud noise in the background and Regina could make out other people's voices. _"Everyone went out to celebrate Killian's win in Atlanta tonight and I just wasn't feelin it and decided to call you while I wait for a cab."_

 _"Killian won? Wow!"_

 _"Yes, it was very exciting. The first time he's come in first since I've been on his team."_

 _"Why don't you want to celebrate then?"_

 _"I don't know."_ Regina imagines Emma is shrugging while saying this. _"I go out with everyone sometimes but usually I don't feel comfortable. I like feeling like I'm part of the team. It's one of the things I've always loved about the job, but that feeling doesn't always transfer over well to social situations."_

 _"I get it. It's like when I would try to go to a party in college. Seeing the other students in class was fine but as soon as I tried to interact with them in a different setting, suddenly I felt like I was being very fake and awkward."_

 _"I can't imagine you being awkward."_

 _At this point I literally held the phone away from my ear and gave it a disbelieving look. I have never been anything BUT awkward in front of Emma!_

 _"I'm sure it's a sight to see." Regina finally manages to respond. "Am I right to assume Killian himself insisted you celebrate with them."_

 _"Of course he did. But as soon as I got here I was caught by an already drunk August who was lamenting about his loss. It was not a good way to start the night."_

 _"What did August place? I really did mean to watch, but it's been a busy week."_

 _"That's okay and August came in 20th."_

 _"That's quite a change from last week."_

 _"That tends to happen in this sport. Sometimes things happen and whether it's the car, or you, or another driver, you just lose time and can't catch up again."_

 _"Sounds rough."_

 _"It is. He has other races to raise his standings though. It's only the beginning of the season."_

A honk sounds in the background of the phone call and Emma's voice is for a moment.

 _"Sorry, my cab is here." She explains._

 _"That's okay. I should let you go."_

 _"Thank you for talking to me."_

 _"Thank you for calling."_

 _"Tell Henry in the morning that I said hi"_

 _"I will"_

 _ _She seemed reluctant to hang up even though I knew the cab was sitting and probably impatiently waiting for her to get in._  
_

 _ _"Talk to you later?"__

 _ _"Yes."__

 _ _"Okay. Goodnight."__

 _ _"Bye, Emma"__

 _ _After I hung up I simply sat there staring at the phone for a while before deciding to write you.__

 _ _I still can't believe she called me! I hope it becomes a regular thing.__

 _I should probably try texting or calling her first. I don't want her to think that I don't want to be talking to her._

 _Her schedule is so crazy though! I don't know when a good time would be._

 _And what if she was drunk? What if that was the only reason she called me tonight!_

 _She didn't sound drunk, but you never know. Some people can hide it better than I can._

 _I think I need to sleep on it._


	18. Decision To Call

_I finally decided to contact Emma._

 _It had been a week and I hadn't heard from her again so I decided that the ball was figuratively in my court._

 _I told Henry that we could watch some of the race today on television if he cleaned up all his toys. He did so eargerly. I'm glad he did too because between you and me I might have let him watch it anyway._

 _When did I become such a push over?_

 _I hadn't watched many races on tv so I didn't realize how much "behind the scenes" action they showed. I was out of the room getting a drink when I heard Henry shout "Emma!" excitedly. I practically spilled my drink in my rush to get over to the living room._

 _And there she was. They were interviewing someone in a jumpsuit about how he trains but to be honest I wasn't really paying attention to him. Emma was in the background of the garage talking to another man. She was pointing and animadtedly explaining something to him but with all the noise and the man speaking her words were drowned out. The man was clearly part of her team and wore a blue jumpsuit similar to Killian's on. He had red hair and you could tell he was buff underneath his suit._

 _The interview was over in a flash and they were back to showing cars speed around the track. My heart reset itself once more._

"Did ya see her?" Henry asks

"Yes, I did. We'll have to tell her that we saw her on T.V."

"When?"

"How about we call her tonight before bed?"

"Okay!"

 _We spent t_ _he rest of the day watching the race and cooking together. By the time the race was over and we had eaten dinner I had talked myself into being nervous again. I'm glad I promised Henry we would try and call her because it was my way of insuring that I wouldn't talk myself out of it. There is no way he would let me go back on my promise._

 _After a few minutes of him pestering me we sat on the couch once again and I found her contact._

 _"Hey, Regina!" She answers immediately to the call._

 _"Hello, Emma, I hope this isn't a bad time?"_

 _"Nope. Just got back to the room. Why? What's up?"_

 _"Someone is very excited to speak with you."_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Yes."_ Regina responds and puts the phone on speaker and nudges Henry to speak.

 _"Emma! We saw you on T.V!"_ He practically shouts. Regina cringes a little at how loud he must sound on the other end.

 _"Henry!"_ Emma says immediately.

 _She sounded genuinely excited to hear from him and it made me want to melt into the couch. I could feel myself smiling like an idiot._

 _"I was on TV huh?" She then asks._

 _"Yeah! You were talking to a red guy!"_

 _"A red guy?"_

 _"Yes, we saw you in the background of an interview and you were speaking to a man with red hair."_ Regina explains.

 _"Oh! You must mean Hercules."_ Emma deduces.

 _"Hercules!"_ Henry asks, intrigued.

 _He had just made me watch the cartoon movie recently so that's probably why he was so excited. I have to say the movie wasn't terrible. Totally wrong as far as Greek mythology goes, but then again, look what they did to poor Pocahontas._

 _"We call him that because he's super strong like Hercules."_ Emma explains.

 _"Stronger than you?"_ He asks.

 _"Even stronger than me."_ She admits to the boy.

 _"Wow"_

 _Wow indeed. I have first had experience with just how strong Miss Swan can be._

 _"So how has school been kid?"_

 _"Good! Ms. Potts was sick today!"_

 _"Oh no!"_

 _"We had a new teacher."_

 _"Were they nice?"_

 _"Umm yeah but he smells funny."_

 _"What did he smell like?"_ Emma asks with a barely concealed laugh.

 _"Gross." Henry states simply._

 _As much as I wanted to sit and listen to them talk forever I knew I should probably get out Henry's pajamas and clothes for tomorrow. I left him to talk to her for a few minutes as I've noticed Henry could talk for hours if you let him. Katherine will attest to that._

 _I tried to make it quick but by the time I got back they had somehow moved on to him describing each of the fish that they kept in the tank at the dentist office._

 _He had only been to Hart's practice twice so how he remembered each fish in the tank is beyond me!_

"Hey, how about you say goodbye to Emma for tonight, then go get changed and pick out a book." Regina tells Henry after a moment.

He pouts but promptly says "Okay mommy" and then _"Bye Emma!"_ before handing off the phone and running to his room.

 _"Hi"_ Regina says once she take the phone off speaker again.

 _"Hey"_

 _"Sorry if he talked your ear off."_

 _"Don't be. Honestly he's more interesting to talk to than most of the people I work with."_

 _"He is very personable. I don't know where he got that from but it's certainly not something he's picked up since being with me."_

Emma chuckles a little but then asks _"Can I ask you a question?"_

 _"You can ask me anything."_

 _The statement came out more serious than I intended. In that moment, I really meant it though. I felt safe and like whatever I said wouldn't be judged. It made me want to open up. I had the habit of accidental word vomit when it came to talking with her anyway but right now I wanted to tell her things purposefully._

 _"Were you like friends or family with Henry's parents?"_

 _"Oh"_ _I don't know what I was expecting the question to be but it was definitely not that._

 _"No, I didn't know them."_

 _"Oh?"_

 _"Why do you ask?"_

 _"It's just that, in my experience, it's rare for an older kid to get adopted. Five is still pretty young but it just would have made more sense if you had known Henry or his family before you took him in. Not that it's not great that you did! I was just wondering if that was your reason."_ Emma tries to coherently explain her thoughts.

 _I was reminded of her telling me that she grew up as a foster kid. I was significantly less offended than I might have been otherwise since I know she has clearly had experience being a child that was passed over._

 _"I did originally wish to adopt a baby"_ Regina admits. _"However, I had a friend with the agency who convinced me to meet Henry. He had been living with his grandparents when they passed away. Once I met him...it was like fate. I knew we belonged together."_

 _"That's really nice."_ Emma says in a subdued voice.

 _"Can I ask you a question?"_

 _"I guess that's only fair."_

 _"What happened to your birth parents?"_

Emma gives a mirthless chuckle. _"Hell if I know. I tried to find them at one point in my life. The older I got the more I realized that maybe the type of people who would leave their baby on the side of the highway aren't the type of people I need in my life."_

Regina's eyes bug out at this new information.

 _"That's probably a wise decision, although I can only imagine it was a tough one to make."_

 _"Yeah. Well I should probably let you go put Henry to bed."_

 _"Yes, I'm sure by now he is waiting for me to remind him to brush his teeth. He drags his feet about it every night and hopes that I'll forget. I don't understand why."_

 _"Does he have a cool toothbrush?"_

 _"It's blue?"_

 _"You have to get him a cool one. Maybe one of those ones that sing."_

 _"I'll have to try that. Thanks."_

 _"No problem."_

 _"Do you have one that sings?"_

 _"I'm 28 years old I do not have a toothbrush that sings!_

 _"Does it light up?" Regina asks with a smirk._

 _"No...but it may or may not have Finding Nemo characters on it."_

 _"That's adorable."_

 _"Yes it is. I recommend it."_

 _"I'll be sure to pass that recommendation onto Henry."_

 _"The recommendation was for you but I will happily be toothbrush buddies with Henry instead."_

 _"Are you trying to make me jealous?"_

 _"Is it working?"_

 _"I'll let you know tomorrow when I decide if I'm buying the toothbrush or not."_

 _"I look forward to it."_

 _"Have a nice night, Miss Swan."_

 _"You too, Regina." Emma responds before hanging up._

 _After that conversation I went on with the rest of my night. True to fashion, Henry reluctantly brushed his teeth. I think I'll take him to the store tomorrow and get him a new toothbrush. If I make it seem like picking out a tooth brush is like picking out a toy maybe it will get him excited to use it. It really was good advice. And who knows, maybe it will work?_


	19. Daniel And Mal

_Hello Daddy,_

 _I know it's been a few months since I last wrote to you but nothing new has happened until today. Everything has stayed pretty constant in my life._

 _Things have been good, but things can't stay the same forever._

 _Work has been constant. The restaurant seems to be picking up business after the initial slow down of re-opening._

 _Henry's nightmares seem to have dropped in frequency. I also finally managed to sort through all of his boxes that were in the garage. I felt bad getting rid of anything but some was necessary. I did keep a lot of mementos that I know he probably won't appreciate until he's older. Other than that he is still the same lovable boy, excitedly waiting for his birthday next week._

 _Emma has also, surprisingly, been a constant in my life. After I had texted a picture of Henry brushing his teeth with his new Toy Story toothbrush it is as if I opened up a conversation that has never seemed to end._

 _Needless to say, my phone has been glued to me ever since. We don't text everyday or most of the time for even very long, but if we do speak, we pick up as if we never left off. She will send us pictures of interesting things around the country. In return I will send her pictures of Henry and adorable things he will do throughout the week._

 _They are nice, friendly chats, and I'm learning some new facts about her. Mostly her opinions about food like which fast food places she prefers (which she seems to have obscenely strong opinions about) and which states truly do the best BBQ._

 _I love hearing whatever she has to tell me. All of these facts make up the wonderful person that I know she is. Yet, something about texting is so impersonal. Every conversation we have has merely been skimming the surface of our personalities. It's barley more than pleasantries. I would equate it to small talk you would have with relatives that you only see during the holidays._

 _I miss her. It's sad how much I miss someone who was barely ever in my life to begin with. When I would see her though, we would act like old friends. We would share in each others lives on deeper level and to go from that to small talk is harder than I thought it would be. It simply makes me miss her presence more._

 _I had no idea if she even really thought about me either._ _That is, until she called me today._

 _I had just arrived at the restaurant in the morning so that Granny and one of the prep-chefs could prepare for lunch. I had gone into the office to look over the sales from the night before when my cell phone rang._

 _My first thought is that something is wrong with Henry. Who else would be calling on a Tuesday morning? I dig out my phone from my purse in a panic only to see "Emmazing Swan" appear on the screen. (I still can't find it in myself to change the ID.)_

 _"Hey Regina"_ A weezy voice greets as soon as Regina picks up.

 _"Emma, what's wrong?"_

 _"I'm sick."_

 _She sounded so stuffed up and sad that it made me want to cry just hearing it._

 _"I'm so sorry to hear that! I know you were hoping that it was just allergies bothering you."_

 _"Apparently not...This sucks, I never get sick!"_

 _"Where are you right now?"_

 _"I'm still at the motel we stayed in last night. I had to get the room for an extra night."_

 _"Are you alone?"_

 _"Yeah. If I don't make it back on the road by tomorrow I'll miss the race this weekend too."_

 _"You need to rest or you're not going to get better."_

 _"In six years I've never missed a race."_

 _"They'll survive one race without you if they have to"_ Regina insists.

 _"I know."_

 _..._

 _"Are you okay?"_

 _"I'll be okay. Sorry to call you. You're probably busy at work."_

 _"I don't have a lot to do today and nobody is even here yet."_

 _"Still..."_

 _"Stop. It's fine Emma. I don't want you to think that you ever can't call me if you need something."_

 _"I don't know why I called you to be honest. It's not like I expected you to nurse me back to health over the phone."_ She lets out a weak laugh.

 _"Perhaps it was just instinct to call a Mom?" The thought gave me pause. My guess is that Emma has never had a mother figure to give her comfort when she was sick. It's human nature to want someone to take care of you when you are upset or injured. Even grown adults still seek the comfort of their parents sometimes. It's exactly why I write to you even now that you're gone. And it's not that I think that Emma looks to me as a parental figure (Ew, I hope not) but as people get older they tend to seek that same comfort elsewhere like in a spouse or a good friend. And no matter how she sees me right now, the fact that she would call me for comfort means we've reached some new level in our relationship. _

_"On that note,"_ Regina quickly starts talking to dispel her thoughts. _"did you take any medicine? If you give me your symptoms I can suggest what I have found works best. The front desk may also have something or be able to get it for you if you're not up to leaving. Although it may be-"_

 _"Regina"_ Emma coughs and grabs the other woman's attention from her rambling.

 _"Yes?"_

Emma weakly laughs again. _"I don't have medication. I did take some asprin with my orange juice when I woke up. I might go out later but right now I just want to lay here and not move."_

 _"I should probably let you sleep then. It's really the only way that you'll get better."_

 _"No."_

 _"No?"_

 _"I mean, if you have to go back to work I totally get it."_ She stops to cough. _"But I...can we just talk?"_

 _"You can barely speak."_

 _"Then you talk."_ Emma says practically. _"Tell me a story."_

Regina settles back into her chair comfortably. A smile on her face.

 _"What kind of story?"_

 _"Umm...how about that ranch you use to go to in the summer. You did promise me a love story."_

 _"I don't believe I ever used the word love"_

 _"Fine. Then tell me about this non-love romance story."_

 _"Okay" Regina says and mentally prepares herself. "My father's family owned a ranch upstate. It was actually only about 2 and 1/2 hours away from where we lived, and therefore near the bottom of the state, but for some reason everyone still calls "upstate". I digress...so every year from the time I was very young through high school I would spend my summers with my relatives up there. I always loved it. Mostly at first because my mother wasn't there. She would only come for about two weeks at the end of the summer. She hated being out of the city. I honestly don't think any of her relatives left the area since her grandparents arrived on the boat from Italy. My father, on the other hand, would come up every weekend to see me. His dream was to move up there but then he met my mother and there was no way she would leave so he stayed in Queens and took over his father's business. His job required him to work a lot, but he would always find time to come up and teach me how to ride. There were other reasons I loved it though. My dad's cousins has no children and they doted on me. They also gave riding lessons there so I was able to spend some time with other children. That's how I got my first crush."_

 _"Ooo this is the good part." Emma teases._

 _Her comment made me smile and for that I was glad because it broke the tension. I was nervous to tell her this part of the story. I realized that up until this point in our friendship I had never actually told Emma that I liked women. We never talked about relationships and aside from her comment to Granny, and our almost kisses (which I refuse to believe I had exaggerated in my head) we never mentioned sexuality either._

 _"It was the summer I was eleven. Her name was Mal. I had seen her around for the last two summers and remembered her because I thought she was so pretty. She had strawberry-blonde hair and a face full of freckles. That summer she was in my riding group. It was the first time I was really interacting with her. She was older than me, almost thirteen, and I thought she was just so cool. She was a better rider than anyone else in the group and I use to say all the time that when she was on a horse it was like she was flying. I compared her to a bird once and she scoffed and insisted she was more like a dragon. And a dragon she was. She...wasn't the nicest kid. She would talk badly about all of the other kids. I, of course, never having had many friends, was honored that she would choose to spend time with me. I was basically her lacky that summer. We would do anything she wanted. That was, until my mother came up. One day Mal wanted me to sneak away to the lake with her after lessons. My mother was expecting me back though so, for the first time, I told Mal no. She didn't take it well. She called me a baby and wouldn't talk to me for the whole last week I was there. I was heart-broken. She wasn't there the next summer and I heard that her family moved."_

 _"Doesn't sound like much of a romance." Emma says when Regina pauses._

 _"That wasn't the romance." Regina assures her. "That was just my first crush."_

 _"Hm. We'll I hope the next one was nicer to you."_

 _"He was."_

 _"He?"_

 _"Just listen to the story."_

 _"Sorry. Proceed."_

 _"Okay...nothing very interesting happened for the next few summers. When I was sixteen I met Daniel. They had hired him as a Stable Hand since they were getting older and needed someone there besides me to help out. Up until this point I hadn't had any relationships and had never even kissed anyone. If anyone at school pressed me about it, I would always lie and say that I had a kissed a boy at the ranch I went to each summer. That summer, my lie became true. Not right away though. Daniel was amazing. The nicest person you could ever meet too. He was also handsome by societies standards. However I didn't think twice about that. By this time in my life I already suspected that I wasn't interested in boys. Nonetheless, I was confused and terrified of my mother, so I suppressed any of those thoughts. When Daniel came along I immediately saw a friend in him. He quickly became the first best-friend I had ever had. This time, I didn't even let my mother's harsh comments about his social standing get in the way. At the end of the summer, he kissed me goodbye. I was stunned. Which I really shouldn't have been. I didn't know what to do but he was my best friend and I didn't want to loose him so I continued to call him and visit him throughout the year. When summer came I knew things would be different. I was nervous but I did love him and I knew that if there was ever a man that I could spend my life with, it would be him. Since I couldn't have what I secretly wanted, Daniel was the next best thing. Much to my mother's dismay our relationship went on until the summer before I left for college. That's when Daniel..."_

 _"Regina?"_ Emma asks after a long pause.

 _"He died. One of the horses kicked him in the head. It was an accident. I saw the whole thing happen. It wasn't the horse's fault, but they still had to end up putting him down to avoid lawsuits. It made everything so much more tragic."_

 _"I'm sorry to hear that."_

 _"I never went back. I still talk to my "aunt" and "uncle" sometimes but they have sold the property at this point anyway and they are in assisted living now."_

 _"You have some tragic ends to your love stories."_ Emma comments to lighten the mood.

 _"Isn't an ending always the saddest part? If they were happy stories it would probably mean I was still with the person."_

 _"True. Can't say I have any happy romance stories myself. Not that I have many at all."_

 _"Will you tell me?"_

 _I was wondering if that brunette woman with the stink eye would be included in this talk._

 _"Maybe some time when I can actually speak."_

 _"Of course. Do you want to rest now?"_

 _"No, I want you to keep talking."_

 _"About what?"_

 _"Henry."_

Regina smiles. After all, Henry is her favorite subject.

 _"What about him?"_

 _"Anything."_

 _And so we went on talking like that for hours. She fell asleep while still on the line. By that time, the lunch rush was already over and I had to hurry to get the few things done that I absolutely needed to do before going home to get Henry off the bus.  
_

 _She didn't say much in the rest of the time. Mostly just "awe" noises at the Henry moments. She DID say that she would be coming back to Daytona for a race the first weekend of July._

 _Now July can't come soon enough._

 **Thank you everyone for sticking with the story and for all of the follows, favorites and reviews! Next up...July!**


	20. Different Kind Of Visit

_It's finally July!_

 _And July means Emma!_

 _The time has gone by surprisingly quick and exceptionally slow at the same time._

 _I have so many excitingly phenomenal things to write down but I'm forcing myself to go in a sequential order. Many different emotions are running through me right now and I don't think I could form coherent thoughts any other way._

 _Emma called last week to say that they only had one race on Saturday this weekend. She wasn't able to see us before the race but she said that she would have enough time to spend the entire next day (yesterday) with us if we were free. I was very happy for this change of events. Henry had a birthday party on Saturday so we wouldn't have been able to make it to the race even if she could get us tickets again to go. He had been so excited about the party because it's for the Patterson triplets and he hasn't seen them in a few months. He was upset when he thought that meant we couldn't see Emma though so having an entire day with her calmed him down._

 _I also may or may not have invited her to stay at our house last night. She had mentioned that when she stays with the dwarves (Is there a better way to refer to them? I'll have to ask her what their last name is.) that she sleeps on the couch. Being the gracious person I am, (ha, we both know I was being selfish) I offered her our fold-out couch in my study._

 _Mother must be rolling in her grave knowing that I own a fold-out couch. I bought it before Katherine and Jim's visit and they said it was surprisingly comfortable. When I informed Emma of this, she accepted the offer happily. As soon as I realized she would be staying at the house I barely got any sleep. While I was awake I cleaned to abate my worry. My house is normally very organized anyway but this was a whole new level. I made sure everything was washed and fresh, I bought extra towels and groceries, I even cleaned out the oven. It's not even like she would have seen the inside of the oven!_

 _As bad as the week following her visit was, that Saturday was the worst. Driving over two hours for a birthday party for people I still didn't know very well was the last thing I wanted to be doing. It was nice to see Henry have so much fun, but he ate more junk food than I normally allow and all the screaming children gave me a headache. I was anxious the entire time and therefore even less sociable than I normally am. I'm sure I made a wonderful impression on the other parents._

 _That night I could barely get Henry to bed too. He was hopped up on sugar and so excited for Emma to come. It was like Christmas Eve all over again. I had to try and calm him down which was hard considering that I was as excited as he was. Once I settled him down though I received a text from her._

 _Emma: The race is over! How was the birthday party?_

 _Regina: Loud._

 _Emma: party pooper_

 _Regina: Henry had fun which is most important. Tell me, how did Killian do?_

 _Emma: He placed 15th. Which is ironic because that's his number_

 _Regina: I'm sure he found that hilarious._

 _Emma: I can tell when you're being sarcastic lol and no he wasn't happy especially since August came in 1st again._

 _Regina: Ouch._

 _Emma: Yup. So I was wondering what time I should come over tomorrow_

 _Regina: Henry is very excited and will probably wake be up at an obscene hour so you can come by as early as you want. I assume you'll want to sleep in?_

 _Emma: I'm pretty excited myself. If I come by early will you make me breakfast?_

 _Regina: What would you like?_

 _Emma: Whatever you're speciality breakfast is_

 _Regina: Apple Pancakes it is then_

 _Emma: Yumm so i'll see you around 8?_

 _Regina: Sounds perfect_

 _Emma: Yay!_

 _I had butterflies in my stomach just thinking about her that night. I was trying to figure out why this visit felt so different from the other few times we've been together. It could have been because this was really the first time I was expecting to see her. With the exception of the race, all the other times I've seen her were unexpected. I didn't have time to analyze and get nervous. I also think it could have been because I now knew her a lot better than I ever did before. We were actually friends now, good friends . She was no longer just some beautifully untamable person that I would have chance encounters with. By the time I finally fell asleep that night I had convinced myself that I was being crazy and there was no reason that this visit should be different from the others._

 _This way of thinking got me through the night and early the next morning. My thoughts immediately changed however after I heard a knock on the door._

Regina and Henry both rushed over to the door when they heard a double knock. Regina opened the door to a beaming Emma and was immediately enveloped in a hug.

 _This wasn't some quick-hello hug. This was a I-haven't-seen-you-in-forever-and-I-really-missed-you hug. Basically it was tight and lasted several moments._

 _I drowned in that hug. It was lovely._

 _She then put her duffel bag down and squatted to hug Henry also. When he grabbed around her next she laughed and picked him up with her as she stood._

"Hey" Emma says with that same giant smile.

 _I had almost forgotten how stunning she was. I could never actually forget of course, but seeing her in person is so much more magnificent than any photo could ever be. And as she looked at me, I felt something change. I knew that I wasn't so silly to think that this visit was going to be different._


	21. Day Off

"Emma! Come eat!" Henry says and hits her shoulder from where he is perched.

"Yes, come inside." Regina finally finds her voice after greeting the blonde. "I'll show you where to put your things."

They make their way into the house and Regina puts Emma's bag on the fold-out bed.

"This looks fancy for a fold-out." Emma comments as she plops Henry onto the already-made-up bed.

"I only choose the best." Regina sasses.

"I'm beginning to get that." Emma says and suddenly looks more awkward than before.

"I've just made the mix for the pancakes. Do you want anything to drink while you're waiting?" Regina asks to break the sudden mood.

"Coffee?"

"Of course." Regina says and immediately puts the milk and sugar on the table with a recently brewed cup. Emma smiles at the milk. "Henry, do you want orange juice?"

"Yeah!" He says with full morning energy.

"I can get it for him while you start the pancakes." Emma offers.

"Glasses are in that cabinet. Make sure his has a top" Regina points and smiles before turing back to the stove.

 _It was so nice to have someone there to help with Henry. Even if was to just get his juice. I knew I wouldn't have accepted assistance so quickly if Henry and I didn't feel so comfortable around Emma._

Henry then engages Emma in conversation. They sit at the table in the sunroom while Henry gives a play by play of the birthday party to Emma.

"I almost forgot Henry! I have a birthday gift for you!" The blonde remembers.

"A gift!"

"You didn't have to do that." Regina says when she walks in with a plate full of pancakes in one hand and bacon in the other.

"I know but I wasn't here for his birthday and when I saw it I thought of him."

"What is it?!" Henry demands to know.

"Henry how about you open your present after breakfast?" His mother suggests.

Henry pouts but says "k" before digging into the pancakes that his mother cut cup for him.

"Did you have anything in particular you wanted to do today?" Regina asks once everyone starts eating.

Emma shrugs. "You seem like a planner. I kind of assumed that you had an itinerary for us already."

"I have ideas but unlike you I didn't want to assume anything; like your willingness to blindly follow along." She teases.

"Well call me a sheep because I just came to hang out with you guys. I don't care what we're doing."

 _I would say that her words gave me butterflies in my stomach but I don't find that term entirely appropriate. When a butterfly lands on you it almost tickles. This is far from a tickle. This was full on tsunami level movement._

"After breakfast we'll go to the Marine Science Center. I think Henry will enjoy seeing the sea turtles."

"That sounds fun! You know when I was Henry's age I wanted to work with animals."

"Really?"

"Yeah in one of my foster homes the Dad volunteered at a pound. It was so sad. I wanted to adopt all the animals."

"Du ya half a dog?" Henry asks.

"Henry don't chew with your mouth open." His mother admonishes.

Emma laughs. "No I don't. I've actually never had a pet."

"That's sad."

"Yeah. But I couldn't give one the care it needs. Maybe some day."

 _Even though I have no interest in pets, I couldn't help but think in that moment that I would be willing to get one if it would make her happy._

"Present?" Henry makes sure to remind us as we are cleaning up breakfast.

Henry!"

"Yeah, I go get it!"

 _Emma seemed as excited to give him the gift as he was to receive it._

Emma arrives back into the room soon with a package. It is a large rectangle wrapped in newspaper.

"I didn't have wrapping paper." She explains. Henry really doesn't seem to care what packaging it's in because he's soon taring it off anyway.

Once he's done he holds out a rather large book in his hand. It looks to be about a foot wide and appears massive in Henry's small hands. Embossed on the front of the book is the words "Once Upon A Time." Regina reads it out for Henry and he starts flipping through the pages excitedly.

"So big!" Henry exclaims.

"It is." Regina confirms. "I've never seen a book like that before."

"They're fairytales." Emma explains. "I thought Henry might like it."

"Where did you get it?"

"You remember when I was sick a few months ago?" When she gets a confirming nod she continues. "Well the next day I was trying to find a drug store. The woman at the front desk assured me that the CVS was right down the street. It turned out I had to drive almost 20 minutes away from the main highway to get there. I found it in this little rundown shopping center. I parked in front of this little bookstore. It had no name. The sign literally just said bookstore. How often do you see bookstores that aren't chains, right? I went in on a whim and immediately saw this book on display. There was only one of it and the old man working there told me that it was rare because only a limited amount of copies were ever printed. I started looking through it was thought how much Henry would love it. I still might not having bought it though until I saw this picture..."

At this point Emma takes the book from Henry for a moment and flips to a certain page. A drawing of a woman in a castle takes up the entire page.

"Mommy, it's you!"

"That's exactly what I thought." Emma agrees.

 _I took the book to get a closer look. At first I didn't see the resemblance other than we had the same color hair._ _However the woman's in the drawing was much longer and intricatally styled. She was clearly nobility of some sort with her finery. It was only after several moments of looking at her face that I conceded that I could understand why they thought we looked a like._

"Who is she in the story?" Regina asks.

"The Evil Queen" Emma grins.

"Like from Snow White?"

"It's perfect...not that I think you're evil. But you are a Queen. And you do have an unhealthy attraction to villains."

"Snow White always reminds me of Mary Margaret. She calls her husband Prince Charming and everything." Regina says with a scrunch in her nose.

Emma laughs. "See, perfect."

After promising Henry that they wold read the story together later, they all got ready to leave for the day. Almost two hours later they arrived at the Marine Science Center. When you fist walk up to the door there is an immediate section with sea turtles that they have recently rescued.

"Like Finding Nemo!" Henry says as he points to one of the Green Sea Turtles.

"Duuudddeee." Emma says and crouches down to give Henry a light head-but. Then they both get into a fit of giggles while quoting the cartoon.

 _It's no wonder why Henry likes her so much. She acts like she's his age half the time._

Once Regina had read all of the informational signs she ushered the other two into the building proper. It wasn't a very large place but there were different pools and tanks filled with creatures to look in. In the center of a large room there was most notably a small pool with Sting Rays in it. Henry pulled them over to look at that first. There were a few other people by the pool. All with their hand in the water.

"It's a touch pool." One of the volunteers informs them. "That one is an Atlantic Ray so I call him Al." She tells Henry. "You can pet him if you want."

Henry excitedly looked to his mother who gave him an encouraging nod.

"Ew!" He squeals and then giggles and ticks his hand right back into the water.

Emma put her hand in next when another ray came by.

"They're so smooth. Try it!" She encourages the other woman.

"No, I'm okay."

"Come on"

"No."

"What? Are you afraid."

"No" Regina says and crosses her arms.

"You totally are! There is no reason to be. It's clearly safe if they're letting children do this."

"At least I'm not afraid of squirrels!" Regina says defensively.

"Hey! I told you that in confidence. And I was attacked, I have a reason to be afraid!"

"Fine!" Regina says and sticks her hand into the water without fanfare.

Her hand runs across the back of one of the rays.

"Ew!" She squeals just as Henry did. The difference is that she keeps her hand out of the water after that. "Happy now?"

"Extremely." Emma says while trying to hold back her laughter.

A different volunteer comes out of a back room and makes an announcement which interrupts further conversation.

"Hello everyone. I wanted to let you know that there will be an owl talk in fifteen minutes for anyone interested."

"Owl talk?" Emma asks confused.

"Oh yes, they have a bird sanctuary here as well. The pamphlet says it's in the other side of the parking lot." Regina explains as she looks down at the site map.

The women let Henry run around the room looking at things for the next ten minutes before deciding to head to the room where the "owl talk" is being held before it gets too crowded.

Unfortunately it was already crowded. There were quite a few guests there today as it was a holiday weekend. A little girl made room for Henry on the benches. Emma and Regina looked at each other with "awe" faces before moving stand at the back of the room.

Emma leaned against the wall and looked a little out of place. Regina watches as the room fills up even more and eventually leans on the wall next to Emma.

"Thank you for coming with us today." Regina says and puts a hand on Emma's arm to stop the other woman's shifting around.

"There's no where I'd rather be."

 _In that moment, I knew. I knew that she was going to kiss me. Maybe not right then, in a room full of parents and children, but soon. Before she left. I could tell just by the look in her eyes that she was anxiously waiting for her moment._

 _And I couldn't wait._

 **I know I know. I promise it will happen in the next chapter!**


	22. Driving Me Bananas

_The rest of the day was filled with laughter and light hearted fun._

 _There was one incident where I slipped on a wet floor and almost cracked my head open but thankfully Emma was there to catch me._

 _Forever my knight in shinning armor._

 _It was a lovely day. Truly, it was._

 _Yet, I was on edge the entire time. Especially whenever Emma and I happened to be alone together._

 _When Henry was talking to another child at the center, or he went to the bathroom where we had lunch, or fell asleep in the car, suddenly I nervously anticipating Emma's next move._

 _She never made one!_

 _By the time I was cooking dinner, I was going bananas!_

 _They both initially helped me with the prep for diner (so it took twice as long) and then Henry had wanted to play with his toy cars with Emma and pulled her away. Meanwhile in the kitchen, the lasagna was in the oven and I was aggressively washing the dishes we had already used._ _I was starting to think all the longing looks were simply in my head._

"Hey do you need any help?" Emma asks and touches Regina's lower back. Regina's startles from the sudden appearance but recovers quickly.

"No dear. Where's Henry?"

"He's picking out a movie for us to watch after dinner."

"He's lucky it's summer time."

"Yeah." Emma says and takes a seat on the island stool. "Henry showed me is bicycle."

"I'm not surprised. It was his favorite birthday present. Well...until your book this morning. Now I may have competition."

"He was so proud that he could ride a two-wheeler. It reminded me that I had never asked you how you're bike worked out after that first day we met. Did you have any more troubles with it?"

"Nope. I can see why they keep you around." Regina smiles at her completely out of her mind funk. "To be honest, I barely used the bicycle after that day. I was busy with work and then Henry came along. That's one of the reasons I decided to get him a bike for his birthday because then we could go riding together."

"I wish I could go riding with you guys."

"Maybe someday."

 _That seems like my signature phrase when it comes to Emma._

 _Maybe someday._

 _God, I was really starting to hate that sentiment._

 _Maybe someday I would see Emma again. Maybe someday we would be together. Maybe someday she would settle down. Maybe someday I would give in and allow her to get a smelly animal!_

 _I wanted someday to finally be today._

Dinner was pleasant. Regina was much calmer knowing that nothing was likely to happen while Henry was still awake. Emma, once again, raved about her cooking and demanded that someday Regina give her cooking lessons.

 _I almost scoffed when she used the phrase again. By the time we were sitting down watching a movie with Henry, I was done. I was determined that things would change that day. I couldn't go through the constant anxiety and hope anymore. Even if it it blew up in my face and I never ended up seeing her again, I decided that it would be for the best._

 _Henry sat between us on the couch as we watched the movie. Henry (shocker) had picked out Finding Nemo. It was clearly Emma's favorite and after all the references to the movie made earlier I didn't expect anything different. The two of them laughed and sang along with Dory. I snuggled Henry into my side to make up for the fact that I wasn't cuddled into a certain other someone._

 _But the night was still young._

 _After the movie we still had to put Henry down for bed. He insisted that Emma stay while I read to him out of the new fairy tale book. The first story was Rumplesticklin's and it was much different than any tale I'd ever heard._

"That book is crazy!" Emma exclaims in a whisper as we are leaving a sleeping Henry. "I probably should have read it before giving it to him."

"It's okay. Most of the real wickedness seems to be implied more than said, so I don't think he'll realize for many years."

"Still...sorry. I'm not really use to kids."

"Emma. It's fine. He loves the book. Plus, have you seen half the things in children's movies? Re-watching old Disney movies with Henry as an adult has certainly been an eye opener."

"I love Disney movies. I never really got to watch them when I was a kid so whenever I did it was so special. I even snuck into the theater to see the Sword and The Stone."

"Wasn't that movie made in the 60s?" Regina asks with a laugh. "Why was it playing in a theater?"

"I honestly don't remember, I was really young. I just remember seeing the poster and knowing I had to find a way to watch it."

"I'm thinking about taking Henry to Disney World." Regina comments and sits on the couch again.

"Really? I always wanted to go. It's not really a place an adult woman goes by herself though." Emma says with a shrug. She sits down on the couch close enough to Regina that their legs are touching.

"I've never been either. I always thought it would be crowded, hot, and expensive. But it's so close and I know he would really enjoy it so I'm willing to try it out."

"You're a good mom." Emma says and puts her hand on Regina's.

"Thank you."

 _Waiting...Waiting...nothing._

"Would you like to watch something?" Regina finally says and reaches for the remote."I would offer another movie but I really only have cartoons."

"Sure...Wait, you don't have netflix?"

"Should I?"

Emma shrugs. "Even I have netflix." She says as explanation.

"I'll look into it." Regina says in an unconvinced tone and turns on the television. She flips through the channels until Emma finally stops her.

"The Proposal. Have you seen it?"

"Yes." Regina has a vague recollection of the movie about a fake-turned real-relationship.

"Good because it looks like it's already started. They're already on the plane to Alaska."

"That's fine." Regina says and settles back into the seat.

Regina curls her legs underneath her so her body is angled and partially leaning on Emma. Emma stretches out and puts her arm on the back of the couch which makes Regina fall fully into her side.

 _It was like I was 16 again and awkwardly cuddling with Daniel for the first time. I would have rolled my eyes at myself if I hadn't been too busy loving every second of it! It's not as though personal space had ever really been a thing between us (she gave me a piggy back ride an hour after I met her) but it had never been this intentionally intimate._

 _The occasional comment was made throughout the movie but for the most part we were silent. I was honestly watching her as much as the movie. Every once and a while I would catch her doing the same thing. Every time this happened I would smile and wait for something, anything, to happen. But she would smile back and then continue watching the movie. I was convinced that when the characters kissed at the end that she would kiss me. It seemed like a cheesy thing she would do and when she brushed my hair away from my shoulder I thought for sure I was right._

 _But alas, I was not._

 _I couldn't sit there any longer with her! I excused myself to the kitchen to get a drink._

"Would you like anything?" Regina asks with her head looking into the refrigerator.

"What are you having?"

"Wine." Regina says and pulls out an opened bottle of white.

"I'll have that then. Although I shouldn't have too much to drink if I want to leave at a decent hour tomorrow."

"Hmm." Regina nods and takes two glasses off the rack. She pours two glasses and picks up one to hand it to Emma.

Their fingers brush when Emma takes the glass and Regina watches as she takes a sip.

 _Then something snapped. I was going to give myself an ulcer waiting for her to make the first move. And why should she have to?_

They're already standing so close so Regina surged forward and grabbed the other woman's face and kisses her.

It wasn't long and it wasn't perfect (since their noses awkwardly bumped against each other) but it had finally had them crossing that line.

 _I felt powerful having been the one to initiate the first kiss and I realized that I liked that feeling. I really did. I had already known that I was a take-charge kind of person when it came to business and mothering so it made perfect sense. I had been suppressing this part of myself when it came to relationships and finally acting the way that felt natural gave me such a rush that I immediately pulled her back in a kissed her again._

Emma was barely recovered from the shock of the first kiss when the second happened but she caught up quickly. She managed to put her glass down on the table without breaking them apart and placed her now-free hands on Regina's hips. Unlike the first, this kiss was blissful and they were naturally in-synch.

 _After all the build up of the day- really the last year- finally kissing her was like exhaling after I had been holding my breath for too long. Like finally letting go._

"Wait." Emma breathes out and runs her hands up and down Regina's sides. The motion really wasn't doing anything to make Regina want to stop, but she does.

She pulls back to look at Emma curiously.

"That was...awesome." Emma says breathlessly. "But..."

 _My heart immediately started to sink._

"But?"

"We should probably talk, right? Before this goes further?"

 **...**

 **So a possible trip to Disney World?**


	23. Discussion

The pair found themselves on the couch once more. They've changed into sleep-ware and both are holding their wine glasses. They were sitting just as closely as before but made no effort to further the contact. Both of them fidgeted nervously about this "talk" but for different reasons.

Regina looked at Emma expectantly.

"Right okay...um..." Emma stumbles on how to start and takes a drink for courage. "I guess I just want to know what the kiss meant."

"What it meant?" Regina asks, confused.

"Yeah. Like...do you like me or just think I'm attractive or.. is this a sex thing...I don't know...what did you want to happen now?" She tries to coherently work out her thoughts. "Sorry, I not use to emotional tete a tetes."

Regina smiles at the other woman. Emma's nervousness is oddly making her more at ease. "Me either." She assures. "As far as what I wanted to happen...I'm not sure. I've just wanted to kiss you for a very long time. It's definitely not just a "sex thing"." She adds with distaste for the phrase. "In fact, I don't know if I would feel completely comfortable with that tonight."

"Okay" Emma smiles and nods her head vigorously as if trying to shake she thoughts into order.

The pair look at each other for a moment. Both trying to figure out where to go with the conversation from here.

"So you've wanted to kiss me for a long time?" She finally says with a cheeky smile.

 _She is always able to make emotional conversations lighthearted again. I've never met anyone so adept at that before. I'm sure there is a reason she doesn't feel comfortable enough not to turn everything into a joke but I don't mind. It a nice respite from all the drama of life._

"You have no idea, Miss Swan."

Emma blushes at her tone. "Trust me, I can imagine the feeling." She says. "I almost kissed you the first day we met."

"In my kitchen?"

"Yup."

"I wonder what it is about that room?" Regina ponders playfully.

"Must be the lighting." Emma plays along.

"Or maybe it has something to do with your obsession with food."

"Hey! Clearly I'm not the only one affected. And you work around food every day!" Emma exclaims and nudges Regina's foot with her own.

"True." Regina concedes.

Emma suddenly stops making eye contact and her smile fades slightly. "So, where do we stand?"

 _Why was she putting all this pressure on me to confess my feelings? I'm not adept at this either. Normally my feelings aren't this strong, and therefore much easier to deal with._

 _I only saw three options at that point._

 _One, I could tell her I wanted to be with her. I already know I would be over the moon any time we were together. The problem is that the times I see her would be few and far between. My life would have the constant presence of longing and worry with no promise of an end. Even after she retires from the sport (which could be many years from now) there is no guarantee that she would want to stay in one place. No guarantee that she would want the lifestyle that I've tried so hard to build._

 _Option two, we could stay just friends. However, this almost seemed like the worst option. I've never had "just friends" feelings for her and I don't think I ever could. Especially now that I know what it feel like to kiss her. This options would leave me with the same longing and worry but now no outlet for those feelings._

 _Option three, I could cut her out of my life. Perhaps not completely, or all at once, but still gain much more distance than we have now. I could try and forget about her. Try and move on with someone else, or maybe just focus on Henry. I didn't expect to be dating after I adopted anyway. Plus, I don't know if I could date anyone else without comparing them to her._

 _After thinking it through, I realized there weren't actually three options at all._

"I want a relationship." Regina states before she is conscious of her decision.

"With me?" Emma seems shocked.

 _Who else would I be talking about?_

"Yes? As long as that's something you would want." Regina continues after taking a sip from her glass. "I know it would be a challenge and it may not work out, but if I don't at least try, I know I'll regret it."

"I never thought you'd actually want to date me." Emma admits in wonderment.

"Why?"

"Because I'm me? You're an actual adult. You have a kid, and a restaurant, and a home that is filled with beautiful things. You even said yourself that you only choose the best. I certainly don't fit that description."

 _I was stunned. How could she not realize how absolutely wonderful she is? She is the type of person that deserves mountains to be moved for her. Yet, she's so amazing that I know she would never ask that of anyone. How could I convince her of that?_

"Apperances can be deceiving Emma." Regina puts down her glass and takes the other woman's hand. "I've led a different life than you. I've probably been given opportunities you haven't. Just because we chose different paths doesn't make your accomplishments any less special. You are special. And you're right, I do choose only the best, and I chose you if you let me. Because you have a way of making me feel special too. I'm not use to that feeling. And I want more than anything to make you feel that way."

Emma looks to be on the verge of tears by now and squeezes Regina's hand tightly. "You do."

Regina can't resist anymore and kisses Emma once more. And once more, Emma has to find a surface to put her wine glass on without looking. Once she has, she takes more control over the kiss than she had the first few times. Regina finds herself laying on the couch looking up at Emma hovering over her.

 _After loving all the control I felt earlier in the day, I was surprised by how much I liked this new position. But Emma looked like an angel hovering over me and I felt no urge to change the situation._

"No one's ever made me feel like this before." Emma admits seriously but then a second later laughs. "That sounded really cliche. I meant it though."

"These phrases became common for a reason. Sometimes there is no more accurate way to express yourself in the moment."

"I wish I payed more attention in English class, so I could be more poetic for you. You deserve that." Emma says between kisses.

 _I was instantly brought back to my conversation with Katherine where I said something so similar. I would have been startled by the connection enough to mention it if she hadn't then started kissing my neck. At that point, and frankly for the next hour, I completely lost coherent thought._

"I can't believe I just made out with you." Emma giggles afterwards. Regina swats the other woman's arm.

They are laying down on the couch facing each other. It barely fits both women but they're making it work.

"I wish you didn't have to leave tomorrow." Regina says softly after a moment.

"Me too." Emma responds just as sadly.

"When will I even see you again?"

"I honestly don't know. Can we not talk about it right now. I don't want to think about it yet."

"Of course." Regina says in understanding. "Do you want to watch T.V again?"

"Can we just lay here?" Emma asks and moves even impossibly closer to the brunette.

In response Regina grabs the blanket that is hanging on the back of the couch and tosses it over them.

 _This morning I woke up with a pressure on my chest . It wasn't entirely unpleasant but it WAS strange and making it difficult to move. It's only after I was awake enough to actually open my eyes did I see the blonde hair splayed across my chest and realize that I was still on my couch with Emma. I carefully brushed her hair back from her face so that I could see it properly but of course that caused her to start to wake up._

Emma lifts her head slightly and looks at Regina. "Morning." She squints and smiles.

Regina kisses her nose. "Good Morning Sunshine."

"Sorry." Emma mumbles once she realizes that she is basically on top of Regina.

"I'm the one who should apologize. The whole point of you sleeping here originally was so that you wouldn't have to sleep on a couch. You ended up doing that anyway." She says and sits up once Emma has moved.

"I didn't mind. You ended up being more comfortable than a bed anyway." She says referring to their earlier position.

"Glad to hear it." Regina says while trying to stretch her back. They both finally stand up. "Coffee?" Regina asks while walking to the kitchen.

Emma snatches her hand and spins her around to kiss her. "Cawffee." Emma tries to mimic Regina's voice. "It's cute how you and Henry have little accents."Emma murmurs onto her lips.

 _My cheeks hurt from the amount of smiling I was doing this morning._

"I'm taking that as a yes to coffee?" She smirks and tightens her arms around her.

"Mommy?" They hear Henry mumble and pull apart quickly. The little boy is half asleep and only just walking out from his room.

"Good morning my dear little prince." His mother scoops him up and walks over toward the coffee machine.

"Need some help?" Emma offers with an amazed smile.

"No I'm okay, you relax." She says grabbing the bag and spoon off the shelf.

"You continue on as if you don't have a human hanging off of you like a monkey."

At the word monkey Henry peaks one eye open and looks at her.

She sticks her tongue out at him.

"Don't teach him that." Regina lightly reprimands. "And this only last for a few minutes until he's fully awake."

Sure enough Henry buries his face in her neck for another moment before he looks up seeming fully awake and happy.

"Mommy, juice?"

"Of course. How about you and Emma sit at the table and I'll bring it out to you."

He wiggles until she puts him down and he runs over to Emma and tugs on her hand.

"Happy Independence Day, kid!" She hears Emma say as they are entering the sunroom. After that she can only hear particularly loud squeals until she came out with the food.

 _Breakfast went by quickly. Too quickly. Emma and Henry were laughing and joking. She once again, complimented my food. She even winked at one point and I was suddenly very over heated. All she did was wink! I don't know what this woman's done to me!_

 _As amazing as the morning was, there was a heaviness in the air. I was overly conscious of the fact that every second that went by was a second closer to her leaving us._

 _By the time she was actually changed and standing outside ready to go my stomach was in uncomfortable knots._

 _I made Henry say goodbye to her first. He hugged her for so long I thought I was going to have serious trouble getting him detached. But she whispered something into his ear and he nodded solemnly before finally letting go._

"Henry, how about you go inside and change and then we can go to the beach before the fireworks tonight."

He doesn't say anything more but runs into the house.

The moment he's gone Regina steps forward and puts a hand on Emma's cheek. Emma lays her own hand on top of it. The simply look at each other for a long moment before kissing tenderly.

"Come back soon. You're welcome anytime. And call me. Day or night. Don't worry about if I'm busy or if it's late. And text me when you get to the hotel so I know that you arrived safely." Regina tries to fit all her thoughts in before she gets too overwhelmed.

 _It took everything in me not to cry but I promised myself that I wouldn't._

"I will." Emma says and is biting her bottom lip pretty hard. Regina reaches out and runs her thumb across it to stop her before it bleeds. But this only makes her clench her teeth instead. "Bye." Regina could barely hear it being said but Emma is stepping back from her.

"Drive Carefully." Regina says because she refuses to say the word goodbye.

 _Then she turns around and leaves. And I've been in denial that I'm not going to be seeing her for months all day because if I let myself think about it, I would have cried. I needed to be happy for Henry today so that he wouldn't be sad too._

 _Now, like I said, my emotions are conflicting. I'm so happy about everything that's happened but so sad that she's gone._

 _I think I need to talk to someone who can actually give me advice and sympathy._

 _I guess Kat is getting a phone call tomorrow._


	24. Descent Into Desperation

_Tell me again why I decided to call Katherine?_

 _"Hello?"_ Katherine answers.

 _"Regina?"_ She asks when there is no response.

Regina groans into the line and flops on top of her mattress.

 _"Oh my. What happened?"_

 _"My...Emma came to visit."_

 _I was about to say "my friend Emma" but realized that no longer covered it._

 _"Isn't that a good thing?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"Then what's the problem?_

 _"...I miss her."_

 _"Awe Sweetie. I'm sure'll come to visit again. Now, tell me about the visit. I hope you didn't just sit around making kissy faces at her."_ Her friend jokes.

 _"Not exactly."_

 _"Not exact- OH MY GOD! YOU KISSED, DIDN'T YOU!"_

Regina finally smiles when she answers _"yes."_

 _"Way to go Mills! Now you really have to tell me all about this visit!"_

 _And so I did. I told her every stupid little detail. I couldn't help myself. Once I started to talk about Emma I didn't want to stop. She's my new favorite topic._

 _A smile was firmly planted back onto my face as I gushed over every word and moment from the past two days._

 _Kat was uncharastically quiet during the talk. Normally she likes to interrupt with questions and comments during conversations (It's the lawyer in her) but today she let me prattle on and on undeterred._

When Regina was finally finished she let out a long sigh. There is only a moment's pause before she hear giggling coming from the other side of the connection.

 _"Oh my!_ " Katherine says between laughs. " _You're in love with her!_ " She excitedly accuses.

" _What?!"_

" _Regina, I have never once in the entire time I've known you, heard you sound the way you sound when you're talking about her. Plus, I usually have to beg you for details about people and the dates you've gone on. Apparently not today. You sound like you want to write a book about this woman_."

" _Katherine..._ "

 _"You're not even denying it outright! This is too cute!"_

 _"Please stop! It's way too early for that. I don't even know when the next time I'll be seeing her is."_

 _"Let me know because I need to meet this girlfriend of yours."_

 _"Oh god,_ " Regina groans again and puts her arm across her eyes. _"I don't even know if she is my girlfriend?! I assumed she wanted to be with me too by the conversation but she never actually said what she wanted or where we stood!_ "She realizes in a panic.

 _"Calm down."_ Kat tries to sooth. _"I'm sure she wants to be your girlfriend Regina. That's something you can easily ask and clarify though."_

" _It won't sound clingy?"_

" _I don't think you're capable of being clingy."_

 _"I use to think that too. I don't know Kat, maybe it's just because I don't see her very often but when I do I just never want her to leave my side."_

" _That's because you're in love._ " She teases.

 _Soon after that I needed to get off the phone and get Henry to bed._

 _I decided to call Emma once he was asleep. I hadn't really heard from her since she left. I woke up with a message from her this morning that was time stamped to be from one-oclock the night before:_

 _Emma: Traffic sucks! The roads were so congested on top of an accident on A1A! I only just arrived at the hotel! I hope this text doesn't wake you up but I didn't want you to worry. Thank you again for everything! XOXO_

 _I had text her back when I woke up but apart from her telling me she was heading on the road again I haven't heard anything._

 _It's an unpleasant shock to go from being with someone for 28 straight hours to having very limited communication._

 _"Hey Beautiful"_ Emma answers the call happily.

 _"Hello."_ Regina blushes at the title. Just hearing the other woman's voice is soothing. _"You aren't driving are you?"_

 _"Nope. Just checked in. Is Henry already in bed?"_

 _"Yes. He's had an exciting few days which thankfully equals easy bedtimes."_

 _"Did you read him more of the fairy tales?"_

 _"We read Pinocchio tonight."_

 _"How was it?"_

 _"Strange as all the others."_

 _"Figures."_ Emma laughs. _"How have you been?"_

 _"Okay. I wish you had been here to watch the fireworks with us."_

 _"I saw some while I was driving but trust me I wish I had been there too. Especially with all the ridiculous traffic I was stuck in instead. I love driving but it would be so much better if there were no other cars around."_

 _"A girl can dream."_

 _"Dreams can be dangerous."_ She says offhandedly as if it's something she's been told multiple time before.

 _"Everything can be turned into a weapon. Doesn't mean it's inherently bad or dangerous."_ Regina counters.

 _"True."_ Emma concedes.

They fall silent for a moment after that.

 _"You okay?" Emma finally asks._

 _"Yes, of course...I did have a question for you though."_

 _"Oh?"_ Emma asks nervously.

 _"Are you my girlfriend?"_ She just comes right out and asks.

 _I cringed at how tactless I was being and was starting to rethink the wine I had after Kat's call._

 _"Katherine called you my girlfriend on the phone and I wasn't sure if I should correct her or not. We never exactly talked about it."_ Regina continues to explain before Emma got a chance to respond.

 _"I honesty didn't think about about labels. Um...I think I've only been called someone's girlfriend like twice in my life. And the first was in high school and lasted like a month. I'm not use to it and normally I'm opposed to labeling relationships like that but...I wouldn't be opposed to being YOUR girlfriend."_

 _"Yeah?"_ Regina questions because she wants to make sure this is something Emma actually wants before getting her hopes up too high.

 _"Yeah that actually sounds really nice. As long as that's what you want too."_

 _"I do."_

 _Katherine's words of love were creeping into my brain._

 _"Good! Mila's going to flip when I tell her."_

 _"Flip in a good way?"_

 _"A very good way. She really liked you."_

 _"We hardly spoke."_

 _"You must have left an impression because any time I've seen her since she's asked about you and Henry. Plus she likes to act like my mom half the time so I think she would like you just because I do."_

 _"I'm glad you have her. She seems a little young to be parenting you though."_

 _"Not really. I think she turns 50 this year."_

 _"Seriously? Ask her what lotion she's using because I want some!"_

 _After that the conversation descended into more silliness before finally parting for the night. I had desperately wanted to ask her more about Mila and how they met. I was burning with curiosity but she always seems so guarded about her start in NASCAR anything about that time in her life. I only hope that some day she'll feel comfortable enough to tell me._

 _Perhaps it's one of those topics that is best discussed in person._

 _Just another reason I wish she were here._


	25. Defensive Measures

_Months! It has been almost four months since I have last seen Emma._

 _But today, today we set a date to see one another again! Only a matter of days left now! The amount of time seems daunting but compared to these last months they also seem like no time at all._

 _After I got off the phone with her I began to look through all our text conversations. I've never deleted any. I couldn't bring myself to. Henry dropped my phone today and I was terrified. Not because I may have to replace my expensive phone, but if I did that would mean that I lost all of these precious words she has written me._

 _I suppose this is modern day love letters?_

 _I have printed out some messages from the last few months and stapled them into the next page. It's a defensive measure. It's my way of ensuring that they survive regardless of technology._

 _I live for Henry, but these messages, they are what have been making me feel truly alive. They may not all be romantic or seem special but they share our story and I cherish each one._

* * *

July 10th

 _Regina: How was the race?_

 _Emma: Good. Killian came in 3rd. Everyone is out to celebrate_

 _Regina: I'm glad to hear it!_

 _Emma: I'm happy about the placing but I'm even less inclined to socialize with everyone than usual. I miss you and Henry!_

 _Regina: We miss you too!_

 _Emma: I just much rather be there with you right now [sad emoji]_

 _Regina: I would love that. Unfortunately you have an important job to do. I want you to be enjoying it!_

 _Emma: I do enjoy it. Doesn't mean I don't wish I was enjoying it with you_

* * *

August 6th

 _Emma: Hey Baby!_

 _Regina: Baby?_

 _Emma: No?_

 _Regina: I really would prefer it if you didn't._

 _Emma: What's on you're approved list than your majesty? [crown emoji]_

 _Regina: That has a nice ring to it._

 _Emma: Har Har.  
_

 _Emma: I'll figure out a better pet name then_

 _Regina: Do I need one at all?_

 _Emma: yes. don't fight it [emoji with tongue out]_

 _Regina: I reserve the right of veto power._

 _Emma: Whatever you want Honey_

 _Regina: ..._

 _Emma: still no?_

 _Regina: Better but keep trying. Or don't. I wouldn't be okay if you don't._

 _Emma: We'll see_

* * *

August 29th

 _Regina: Henry started school today!_

 _Emma: Send me a picture!_

 _Regina: [ picture message of Henry getting on the bus]_

 _Emma: He's so cute! His backpack is bigger than he is!_

 _Regina: He insisted on that one because it had Cars on it._

 _Emma: man after my own heart [red heart]_

 _Emma: how you holding up?_

 _Regina: I thought it would be easier than last year since that was his first year at school and my first year with him, but I was still sad_

 _Emma: [crying emoji]_

 _Regina: I wish you could have seen him. He was so excited._

 _Emma: Call me tonight so he can tell me all about it_

 _Regina: You haven't talked it him in a while. He's going to keep you on the phone for a long time._

 _Emma: I know I still want to_

 _Regina: Today would be better if you were here._

 _Regina: Sorry I'm not trying to make you feel bad._

 _Emma: No, it's okay. I wish I could._

 _Emma: So are you going into work today?_

 _Regina: Yes, I need the distraction. The house would be too quiet._

 _Emma: Well look on the brightside, it's much easier to work when he's at school._

 _Regina: True. I don't have to worry about sitters or bringing him with me. He get's bored in my office after about two hours._

 _Regina: I will be happy about all of that tomorrow. Today, I miss him too much._

 _Emma: I'm giving you a virtual hug right now_

 _Regina: Thanks. Not as good as the real thing, but I'll take what I can get._

* * *

September 17th

 _Regina: I thought the point of having a girlfriend was so that I had someone to go to events with?_

 _Emma: Nice to know I'm only arm candy [candy emojis]_

 _Emma: Is the wedding over?_

 _Regina: You're much more than arm candy. You're the whole dam sweet shop_

 _Regina: And the reception is still going on. I'm calculating an appropriate time to leave_

 _Emma: You're so sweet my teeth ache lol and is it really that boring there?_

 _Regina: No, I know some of Diana's family already and they are most certainly not boring, but everyone is busy and I've been away from Henry for hours already._

 _Emma: He should be in bed by the time you get home either way_

 _Regina: I know but I would still like to be there._

 _Emma: How was the ceremony?_

 _Regina: Nicest wedding I've ever been to. Not that I have been to many to compare._

 _Regina: Don't tell Katherine I said that_

 _Emma: I'll make sure to say exactly that when I meet her_

 _Regina: And you call me mean._

 _Emma: I'm teasing of course I wouldn't rat you out._

 _Emma: So is her husband's family as tall as he is?_

 _Regina: Taller._

 _Emma: [shocked emoji] No!_

 _Regina: She married into giants_

 _Emma: Labor is going to be a bitch_

 _Regina: I can only imagine._

 _Regina: I should really socialize some more before I leave. Good luck tomorrow!_

 _Emma: Thanks! Try to have fun!_

* * *

October 1st

 _Emma: Good Morning Beautiful! [blowing kisses face emoji] I know you were feeling run down yesterday and I hope today goes by much easier! I want you to relax! I promise when I see you I'll give a message to retroactively make you feel better [winking emoji] Can't wait!_

* * *

October 23rd

 _Regina: Happy Birthday! The big 30! Trust me it's not as bad as it sounds! In fact, my life in my thirties has been infinitely better than my twenties. Having you and Henry in my life, how could it not be? I hope you have a wonderful day! Have fun at the race and stay safe! I'll be watching!_

 _Emma: Regina! I can't talk right now but I just wanted to say thank you so much for the flowers and chocolate! I don't even know how you knew which hotel I was staying at to get them to me but it just proves how amazing you are! I will call you when the race is over!_

* * *

October 30th

 _Regina: IT JUST ENDS!_

 _Emma: What?_

 _Regina: Henry and I finished the book of fairytales tonight and it just ends without the story being resolved!_

 _Regina: THEY SEND A BABY TO ANOTHER WORLD IN A WARDROBE_

 _Emma: What?! Okay you have to explain this to me!_

 _Regina: Snow White and Prince Charming have a baby. The Evil Queen is about to curse everyone to a land without happy endings so they send their HOURS OLD NEWBORN away in a magical wardrobe so that when she's older she can find them, break the curse, and save them all._

 _Emma: That's nuts!_

 _Regina: That's how it ends though! They don't tell you if she ever does come and rescue everyone and break the curse! Perhaps you're supposed to assume? Or perhaps the author intended to write a sequel? I even googled the authors name to find out if he wrote more but I couldn't find anything about him or the book. I suppose it is as rare as the man told you._

 _Emma: This book is crazy! And yeah that bookshop was real quirky so I'm not surprised_

 _Regina: That's not even the craziest part!_

 _Emma: Oh geez how could it get crazier?_

 _Regina: Guess what the baby's name was?_

 _Emma: I couldn't begin to imagine_

 _Regina: Emma_

 _Emma: what?_

 _Regina: The baby's name was Emma_

 _Emma: You're kidding?! [shocked face emoji]_

 _Regina: I assure you, I couldn't make this up._

 _Emma: I'M THE SAVIOR PRINCESS_

 _Regina: What?!_

 _Emma: You're not the only royalty anymore your majesty!_

 _Regina: You're ridiculous_

 _Emma: Why? we were both abandoned._

 _Emma: You're just afraid I'm going to break your curse_

 _Regina: Are you going to be a princess for Halloween tomorrow?_

 _Emma: No thanks, big dresses and crowns aren't really my thing_

 _Regina: I would like to see you in a dress_

 _Emma: I've never seen you in a dress either_

 _Regina: That's surprising. I wear them quite often. I do tend to be a little more casual when I see you._

 _Emma: And yet you're still dressed to the nines_

* * *

November 10th

 _Emma: So the championship is in Miami...how would you feel about me stopping at your house on the way back to North Carolina?_

 _Regina: I only have to wait 12 more days then?!_

 _Regina: How long can you stay?!_

 _Emma: I should probably only stay overnight. They are expecting me to pick up the key for the rental. But I will be back. I'm still invited for Christmas right?_

 _Regina: Of course you are! You are always welcome to stay here. I want you to come and stay as long as you can._

 _Regina: Henry needs another child to play with._

 _Emma: Hey!_

 _Emma: And what about you? [winking emoji]_

 _Regina: I need another adult to play with too._

 _Emma: I thought I was a child?_

 _Regina: You serve both purposes._

 _Emma: What kind of playing are we talking about?_

 _Regina: I suppose you'll just have to see when you get here._

 _Emma: You're going to give me a heart attack. I can't text you in public anymore I'm getting weird looks_

 _Regina: I'll let you go then. I wouldn't want anything to happen to that precious heart of yours_

 _Emma: [green heart] [yellow heart] [blue heart]_


	26. Don't Say Sorry

_Having Emma in my arms again was an indescribable joy._

 _Like not noticing that the world was upside down until it has been righted again._

"Emma!" Regina practically shouts through the open doorway when she see the other woman coming up the walkway.

Emma immediately opens her arms and they fall into each others embrace.

 _I had been telling myself for months that I couldn't be in love with Emma. Not yet. I was falling, yes, but it couldn't be anything more._

 _However having her finally here with me again; kissing her hello like it was the most imperative thing in the world...I realize that I'm a fool for trying to swallow that lie._

Henry runs out behind them and gasps. Regina immediately stiffins. She hadn't exactly explained to him what Emma was to her past being someone special. Now that he had seen them kissing she doesn't know how he'll react.

"I want kisses too!" He simply says as he runs up to the the blonde by the door.

 _Apparently I'm not the only one who loves her._..

"I always have kisses for you Henry!" Emma says before picking him up and kissing him on his cheek dramatically.

"I hope the drive wasn't too long." Regina says as they get her overnight bag from the car to bring it inside.

"About five hours. It's nothing compared to what I'm use to doing in a day.

"Good." Regina says and leads Emma into her bedroom to put her bag down.

Emma raises an eyebrow at the action but doesn't say anything about the sleeping arrangements.

Regina wills Henry not to notice anything different and thankfully he is too excited to question it.

It's already late afternoon at this point so after Emma relaxes a bit they decide to go out to eat.

"Are you sure this is okay. I know you've been eating out a lot. I could always cook you something at home." Regina offers once they get in the car.

"It's fine, I promise. I'm not going to make you cook. Besides, this is a celebration."

"Oh yes, Killian came in third!"

"I meant being here again but yeah that was definitely exciting!"

"Booth won!" Henry shouts from the back seat.

"Yes, he did!" Emma says and laughs with Henry. "Killian was not happy. I think that had more to do with Peter coming in second than Booth winning though."

"Peter Panas?" Regina confirms. "Jones doesn't like him either?"

"Everyone hates Peter." Emma says with a shrug. "He's a misogynst. His team is a total boys club. And there have been rumors of him cheating for years but nothing was proven. Killian just has a special dislike for him because he's Mr. Gold's nephew."

"Mila's ex? Why would that matter?"

Emma looks over to her like she's crazy. "I seriously never mentioned anything about Jones and Mila?"

"No? Are they together?"

 _I tried to wrap my head around the idea. Jones has to be at least a few years older than me but she is still his senior by quite a lot. That wouldn't even seem so surprising if he didn't come off as such a pig._

"On and off for years. It was a big deal when they first started dating because she was newly divorced and he was a new driver. I didn't know them yet but I heard all the rumors later. A lot of people said she had been cheating on her husband, other people said he was using her for publicity. The truth is that she just had a bad marriage and I think meeting Killian was the straw that broke the camels back. He fell for her hard, it's funny to see them when they are together. I don't know why they are always so on and off. I don't really talk to her about her love life. If you ask me, the main reason they never got married was because her son's only two years younger than Jones and I think she's reluctant to put him in that situation."

"Wow." Was all Regina could think to say.

"Yeah I know. So I think Kill just has a dislike for Gold's whole family because of Mila. He's lucky he's a good driver because it's not exactly smart to be on Gold's bad-side since he practically owns the Nascar Industry."

"You knowing Jones before working with him makes more sense now."

 _After that they arrived at the restaurant the talk of racing was suspended. The meal went by quickly. It was so nice to have the both of them with me that I couldn't believe how lucky my life was. I had some form of physical contact with Emma the entire night. We were holding hands or leaning on each other or some other form of connectedness. It was like I was proving to myself that she was in front of me and I wasn't just hearing her voice though a device._

 _Once we were back home we both tucked Henry into bed. He insisted that I read the story of Snow White and Prince Charming's baby since it had Emma's name in it. Emma seemed disturbed while I was reading but didn't comment on the content of the story._

As soon as Henry was asleep and the door was shut behind them, the two women were immediately in each others space.

 _There was no bulid up to this kiss. It was needy which I completely understood._

Regina finally breaks them apaprt far enough to lead them to her bedroom. Once there she presses Emma up against the door and sucks on her pulse. Emma succumbs for a few moments to the sensation before she practically growls and takes some control back by taking off Regina's shirt. Soon the two women are down to their underwear and kissing passionately before Emma picks Regina up and places her back down onto the bed. Emma's on top and leaving a trail of kisses down to her breast while she reaches around for Regina's black bra clasp.

"Wait." Regina says breathlessly.

 _Everything escalated so quickly that my brain was only now just catching up._

"What? Are you okay?" Emma asks just as breathlessly but Regina could hear the concern regardless. This makes the brunette smile.

"Yes...I just.."

"What's wrong?" She asks again and pulls back more. "We can stop." She assures her.

"I don't _want_ to stop." Regina says.

 _It's true I really didn't. I was at war with myself at the moment._

"It's just...I've never done this before and...I'm sorry but would it be okay if it wasn't tonight?"

 _Sure, I was nervous and slightly unsure of myself, but truthfully I didn't think that was the reason I was stopping. I felt confident with Emma, and I wanted her more than I'd ever wanted anyone, so it shouldn't have been an issue. Something just hadn't felt right and it made me stop her but I couldn't explain what was wrong so this was my excuse._

"Don't be sorry." Emma says and sits up. Regina mimicks the action. "I didn't know. I wouldn't have pushed."

"Trust me, you didn't push. I know we've waited months already and I just feel bad for making you wait longer."

"Regina" Emma coos. "I've been waiting months to see you and hug you, everything else is just a bonus." She promises.

 _God, I loved her so much in that moment. Staring up into her eyes and feeling truly appreciated and cared about._ It wasn't hard for me to figure out after that moment what had felt off earlier. I stopped because I didn't want to just have sex with her. I wanted it to mean something more. So few times in my life has sex really meant anything to me and I couldn't let that happen with her. 

Not matter how great it would still have been. 

_In the one night she was here I came oh so close to letting those three little words slip out of my mouth multiple times. It feels less natual to hold back the words than to simply say them but I couldn't bring myself to do it._

 _I can feel her love for me but I don't know how receptive she would be to the actual words. She holds back. She is even more cautious than I am in a relationship. Although I suppose no one besides Daniel has ever really broken my heart. Not to say that loosing you and mother didn't make my heart feel broken up as well. Regardless, none of you did that intentionally._

 _To be heart broken you first have to truly love someone. And I have felt more than just affection for so few people in my life that I was never in much danger of heart break._

 _I can tell her heart's been broken. Maybe it wasn't even by people she was romantically involved in, but I can tell people have at the very least disappointed her. And many times at that._

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?" Emma asks and moves off Regina and lays next to her.

"No." Regina says and pulls them together again.

Emma chuckles and pecks her quickly. "I think you need to put on pajamas then."

Regina winks before rolling off the bed before putting on Emma's tshirt and silk pajama shorts.

 _Normally my outfits match. Even my pajamas. However I didn't care if I looked silly in that moment because it was her shirt was worn and smelled like her and I wanted to wear it._

After the two women properly got ready for bed they lay side by side facing each other.

Regina runs gentle fingers down Emma's muscular arm and closes her eyes.

"What?" Emma asks.

"I don't think I can look at you and touch you at the same time. It's sensory overload."

 _Everything had been going so fast earlier that I hadn't stopped to really look and appreciate how beautiful she is._

Emma gives a quiet laugh and hugs the other woman close.

"I don't want you to go." Regina whispers into her chest.

"I'll be back soon."

"When?"

 _I wasn't going to beg her to stay. I'm not that needy person. But just because I didn't ask, doesn't mean I didn't want to._

"If you want..."

"Yes?"

"If you want, I can come back when Henry goes on break from school. I can play babysitter when you go into work. Then I'll stay through the holidays and until I have to go back to meet the team at the end of January."

"Okay...Henry doesn't go on break until December 20th so please try to come before then. That's a month away."

"I can do that."


	27. Declaration Of Love

_I arrived home from work today to a disaster zone._

 _I opened the door to find pillows, blankets, couch cushions, chairs, and mats, all strewn out over the floor. Every visible area I could see from the living room, to the hallways and kitchen was in this state of chaos._

"Mommy, Stop!" I heard Henry yell before I even stepped a foot off of the welcome mat.

I looked around and saw him and Emma in the corner of the living room each standing on separate decorative pillows.

"Don't step off the mat." Emma goes on to say as if this is imperative advice.

 _My first thought is that there is a creature in the house. My mind went crazy with possibilities of alligators or deadly snakes finding there way into my home._

"Why?" Regina finally asks warily and backs up to the door.

"The floor is lava!" Henry shouts. His voice is shaking with excitement and fake fear.

 _His voice always has this quivering pitch to it when he's excitedly playing pretend. Or using his imagination at all for that matter._

"What?" This was clearly a game of some kind but Regina did not understand what that game was or why it equated to her house being a mess.

"The floor is lava. If you step on it, you'll die. You have to jump to each "platform" on the ground to get around."

 _For a long time I just stood there staring into my home not knowing what to do. I was upset by the state of my house, that was for sure. And I was calculating how long it would now take me to wash all my blankets and clean everything else._

 _But what was I going to do? Yell at them? The damage was already done. They were clearly enjoying themselves and I just couldn't let myself be the one to wipe the smile from their faces._

"Okay." Regina accepts stepping onto the nearest cushion. It's closer to the coat rack so she can hang up her things. "Once we discover a way to get rid of this deadly lava we're going to clean the house, right?" She says with a pointed look to the others.

Emma winks at her. "Of course. You got home early." She says with a shrug.

 _Home. The word struck a chord with me. I know Emma didn't intend her statement to mean that this was their home together, but that's how it feels. Emma arrived a little over week ago, only a few days before Henry went on break. In that time she's already become a fixture in the house. She's messier than I'm use to (though not usually as bad as today) but that's about the only negative thing I could say about the experience so far._

"Yes, I left as soon as I could." Regina confirms. "Well, I want a hug so explain to me how I can get over to the two of you."

"Hmm, the easiest way would be stepping on the blue blanket, then walking across the couch, then jumping onto the towel in front of us."

"I'm in a skirt, I don't think I'll be doing much jumping."

"If the redhead in Jurassic Park can outrun dinosaurs in heels the entire movie, you can hop in that skirt." Emma teases.

Speaking of heels, Regina kicks off her own before stepping on the blue blanket indicated earlier. After some careful maneuvering she finds herself placed on the towel in front of her two favorite people.

"You made that look graceful."

"I am a queen." She winks and kisses Emma's cheek. Then reaches over to pick up Henry and hug him close. "So my little Prince, how are we going to get rid of all this lava?"

After about another half hour of playing, Regina forcefully suggested that they all take a hot chocolate break before cleaning up the house.

"I want cinn-min." Henry says when Regina tries to put his mug down in front of him.

"Cinnamon?" Regina asks, surprised.

"He may have picked that up from me." Emma says and reaches into the cabinet for the cinnamon shaker. She then adds some on top of her and Henry's whip cream. "Do you want to try it?" Emma asks and holds her mug out to Regina.

Regina takes a small sip from the mug. "Hmmm. It does add something. I think I'll still stick to tea though." She says and begins to make her own drink.

"Happy wanted me to thank you again for the recipe, Regina."

"Oh it was nothing. It was nice of the dwarves to invite us over last night. Happy was a surprisingly good cook."

 _I still refer to them as The Dwarves. It's hard not to catch on when that's what Emma calls them. More importantly, I had asked her what their last name is and apparently it's Cobbledick. I had asked Emma if she was joking when she told me. Her only response was "now you know why I call them the dwarves." It's unfortunate, so I gave up on resisting the nickname._

"Well one of them has to be."

"I was just glad that it wasn't Sneezy cooking." Regina deadpans.

Emma genuinely laughs at the bad joke.

"Who is Sneezy?" Henry asks.

"Clark." Emma explains. "He wasn't there last night. He and Doc or Franklin live together in town. Actually Sneezy doesn't sneeze very often. However he is a complete hypochondriac and Doc was always the older brother to take care of him. So that's how they got their names."

"Ah"

"What's a hipe-o-con-drat" Henry asks.

"Hypochondriac. It's someone who is anxious about their health and basically always thinks they are sick even when they're not." Regina explains.

The boy nods his head in understanding.

Soon they are all finished and putting the house back together.

"I don't think a living space of mine has ever been such a mess." Regina says casually as she walks into the living room with a laundry basket.

Emma laughs.

"Seriously. My mother kept the house pristine. I picked up those habits young. Even Mary Margaret was a neat person. Regardless of all her useless decorations cluttering up the space."

"Sorry. I don't really own enough things to be messy but I'm definitely not the cleanest person."

"I'll get use to it." Regina says nonchalantly.

Emma quickly looks at her and looks back down. Regina doesn't notice as she fits the couch cushions back onto place.

Henry runs around collecting all the throw pillows and putting them on the couch. Regina lysol sprays everything while arranging them into place.

"What are you doing?" Emma asks.

"Your feet were on these. Besides it smells like lavender."

"You smell like lavender."

"You think?"

"Whenever I smell it I always think of you." Emma admits as she puts the last blanket in the basket.

Regina turns away before Emma can see her blushing smile. When she is done arranging everything she walks into the hallway. The washer and dryer are hidden away in a closet stacked on top of one another. Emma is currently showing Henry how the machine works while putting the blankets in the washer. The older woman leans against the wall and watches the two. Henry has his finger over the button waiting for Emma to tell him he can push it to start the machine. Once he finally is told to push the button he does it with a dramatic flair. Then he high fives Emma before running off to his room.

Emma looks up from her crouched position and sees Regina watching her with an adoring smile.

"What?" She asks weary of the look. She stands and stretches her back a little.

Regina walks up and wraps her arms around Emma's waist. Then she shrugs.

"I love you."

Emma's eyes widen momentarily.

"Uh..I.."

Regina places her fingers over Emma's mouth.

"I don't want you to say anything. Please. I just wanted to make sure you knew."

Regina takes her hand away and Emma immediately kisses her deeply.

 _I didn't want to force/guilt her into saying the words if she wasn't ready. I also really didn't want to hear any excuses about why she couldn't say them if she decided not to._

 _I simply couldn't hold the words in any longer. Watching her interact with Henry melted my heart and my resolve._

 _Holding her every night has been wonderful but I could only imagine how much more wonderful it would be if I wasn't holing back. If I let myself love her completely. And I couldn't do that until I expressed it in words how I felt._


	28. Development

**Sorry for the delay. This is the longest chapter yet so I hope that makes up for it.**

 **Trigger Warning: mention of miscarriage.**

 **That makes it sound like a really depressing chapter but it's not all sad I promise a full range of emotions!**

 _I_ _t feels so nice to just sit and write!_

 _These past few weeks have been busy. I don't think I've had a moment to myself since before Christmas. Maybe even before Emma came to visit._

 _Not that I'm complaining._

 _It's amazing to have activity, excitement, and love in the house. But it's also nice to decompress every once and a while._

 _Even at work it's been busy. I couldn't even lock the office door and relax for a few minutes because there was constantly people who needed my attention._

 _I promise I'm not complaining! Truly, this has been the best few weeks of my life! I just know this next week is going to be equally busy and this is my only time to catch up. To let my mind and my body settle in a place of understanding._

 _I believe the last time I wrote you was the night I told Emma I loved her. What a relief that was! As lovely as it felt to say those words though, an uneasiness settled over me aftewards. I knew this would change our relationship. I wasn't sure how or when these changes would occur but I knew change was inevitable. How else could a relationship develop? I could only hope the changes would be good ones._

 _As it turns out, the changes would begin the very next day._

 _Diana and her husband Robert had once again invited us over for Christmas Eve. I had conflicting feelings about this. I have grown to really like her family and I know Henry had a good time at the party last year. Also, I haven't seen Diana since her wedding and only talked to her sparsely. These were all reasons for me to happily accept the invitation._

 _However, this year Emma was spending the holidays with us. I wasn't sure if she'd want to spend it with a bunch of strangers. Additionally, I felt weird bringing Emma around Darla. I couldn't see why it would be a problem, and I know she has dated since me (she even brought a date to the wedding) but it still made me uneasy._

 _Regardless, we ended up attending._

"Regina!" A pale, slightly balding man with a heavy English accent opens the door.

"Mr. Hart." Regina greets as the trio steps through.

"Happy Christmas Henry!"

"Happy Christmas!" Henry says as Regina takes his coat off so we can run and find the other children.

"And who is this?"

"I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Emma." Regina introduces.

"Very nice to meet you." He says with a smile and shakes Emma's hand. "Well I'm off to get some punch. We'll have to catch up later."

"Yes, we will." Regina says politely before he leaves the two women.

"That was...nice."

"Yes the Hart's are all very nice."

"I'm not use to people not even batting an eye when they see a gay couple."

"Diana's sister is gay." She explains.

"Ah."

Speak of the devil, both sisters appeared before Emma and Regina.

"Regina!" Diana shouts similar to the way her father did. However she follows the greeting by hugging her tight. Darla smiles and gives her a smaller hug.

"You're late!" Diana accuses.

"You told me to be here at six and it's" Regina looks at the clock on the wall "six-eleven. I bet most people aren't even here yet."

"For you, that's late." She teases.

"It's harder to get places on time when you have two children in the house." Regina says with a pointed look to Emma.

"It's not OUR fault you took so long to get ready that we had to start another game of checkers." Emma sasses.

"HAD to? And why couldn't you simply leave the game and finish it later?"

"I was on a lucky streak. I wasn't going to break it by walking away. Besides when would we have time to finish? After the party Henry will go to bed, and tomorrow is Christmas."

Regina rolls her eyes in response. She isn't about to admit that Emma has a point.

Diana laughs at the bickering couple. "You must be Emma." She says and shakes the blonde's hand. "I'm Diana."

"I've heard a lot about you."

"All good things?"

"What bad are there?" Regina asks sarcastically.

"I'm Darla." The older red head greets and also shakes her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"So Emma, Regina tells me you work for NASCAR." Diana begins the conversation before any awkward exchanges could occur.

The group of women talk amicably about jobs and Diana's married life for a while before sitting down to eat. Emma was friendly but quiet throughout the meal. Regina kept an eye on her. She didn't appear to be having a bad time so Regina chalked up the behavior to not being use to the environment.

 _When it was time for games and presents, Emma seemed to jump on the opportunity to interact with Henry. It made sense as he was the only person beside myself that she actually knew. As much as I loved watching them I knew her real motive. I could recognize someone clinging to a life-vest when I saw one._

 _I decided to hurry us along after that. We left the party as soon as Henry opened his gift from the family. It was a beautiful Shel Silversten book set that I knew Henry would love reading._

"Are you okay? Did you have a good time? We could have left sooner if you wanted to. Regina asks when the group is safely in the car. Henry had fallen asleep almost immediately during the ride.

"I'm okay." Emma smiles. "Are you?"

"Of course, why?"

"I don't know you just seemed a little...off, tonight."

"Did I?"

"Yeah, you were very proper. And we're not much for PDA but you kept like a foot distance between us all night."

"Oh."

 _For the first time all night I was analyzing my own actions. Maybe I had been projecting my own anxiety about the night onto Emma._

"I'm sorry." Regina says and reaches her hand out to squeeze Emma's. "I didn't realize I was acting that way. I suppose I'm just not use to bringing someone around and felt awkward because..."

"You totally dated Darla." Emma says. Regina looks over to her anxiously but Emma is smiling.

"Yes, briefly."

"A little warning would have bee nice." Emma says more seriously.

"I didn't think it would be a big deal. Diana set us up and we didn't date very long." Regina defends.

"It's not entirely your fault. We've never had the exes talk."

"No we haven't. However, I told you about Daniel which was the only important relationship I've ever had."

"I guess we probably talk about it then" She sighs deeply. "I should talk about it." She amends.

Regina nods and squeezes her hand again.

 _The rest of the ride was silent. When we arrived home, Emma carried Henry inside and laid him on his bed. I changed him into his pajama's while he was half awake and let him get away with not brushing his teeth for the night. Neither of us had energy for that. I was glad he was so tried. It looked like I had a long night ahead of me, and a son who is insisting on staying up to see Santa would not have made the night easier._

 _Emma and I changed into pajamas before setting up the living room for the next morning. She laid out his gifts as I filled our stockings (Emma had said she never had one before so I insisted we buy one up for her). Then we put out bitten cookies and a glass of milk so Henry could see that Santa ate his baked goods._

 _I then turned on the tree lights and turned off the lamps. The room was basked in a colorful, erie glow._

Emma reaches out and takes Regina's hand as they look over the room.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For including me in your family traditions."

"There will always be a place for you if you want it."

Emma kissed her softly and layed her head on Regina's shoulder.

"I lied." Emma says quietly.

Regina tenses a little bit. "About what?"

"When I said I never had a stocking before. I did...once."

Regina stays silent, not wanting to push Emma into the conversation.

"Technically I've had a few in foster homes as well. But they were never really MINE. Just generic stocking to go with the generic girl gifts. The only stocking I've ever had that was truly mine was the Christmas after I turned twenty." Emma explains before taking her head off Regina shoulder and looking her in the eye.

 _She looked so broken up. I was curious, but not enough to want to make her suffer through any story._

"You don't have to tell me if your not ready."

"No I want to. I...I trust you" She finally settles on saying. "And I want you to know these things even if actually telling you is hard. I want you to know everything about me because if you... care about me knowing everything, then it will be real. You will be caring for the real me." She says frowning.

 _It's clear that she isn't happy with her own explanation but I understood._

 _Can you truly love someone if you don't really know them?_

Regina gives her an encouraging smile and leads her into the bed room. They sit down on top of the covers and Emma puts her head on the older woman's shoulder once more. Then Emma begins her tale.

"I've told you how I lived in foster homes all my life. After I met the dwarves I learned about fixing cars and even after they moved was able to keep jobs in auto-shops to make some money. Not that most of the guys who owned them took me seriously. I was able to save some money that way. Saving money was the only reason I didn't run away from the system before I aged out. Still, after I turned eighteen I was poor. One day, I was desperate and stole a car. Turns out it was already a stolen car and the guy who originally took it was in the backseat." Emma lets out a humorless laugh. "His name was Neal. He was older than me but friendly and not at all creepy toward my young female self. He never asked my age though and we only talked the bare minimum about families and personal lives. However, it turns out Neal knew a lot about cars as well. I once asked him how he knew so much and he told me his parents had been in the racing industry and that they had loved it more than they loved him or each other. I didn't pry further."

Emma takes another deep breath. "We ended up teaming up for a while to steal and sell car parts. We developed a close friendship in that time and eventually were able to afford to get an apartment together. He knew I was a lesbian and never pushed for anything more, even though I always got the impression that he loved me as more than a friend. That's what it was though, love. It was one of the first times in my life I had felt loved. I was high on that feeling. I finally had someone, even just a friend, who cared about me and who I could spend holidays with. We both talked about moving and getting respectable jobs. For the first time in my life the future looked brighter. Then one day we got really drunk and spent the night together. I never blamed him for it. I remember enough of the night to know he wasn't taking advantage of me but it was definitely a mistake. It was super weird after that. He became distant, started selling things without me there. I chalked it up to him feeling awkward at the time but then...I found out I was pregnant. I was hysterical when I found out. I never thought I would have children and I was panicking. He found me in that state when he got home one night and it was the first time in days he even looked me in the eye. He told me it would be alright though. That we should just go to bed and deal with everything in the morning. When I woke up...he was gone. Him and almost all his stuff. He left me money and the car but at the time it didn't make me feel better. I was mostly conflicted about the baby. I couldn't raise one on my own. What kind of role model would I be?!" Emma voice became weak during this part of the story.

"I didn't want it to be raised it the system like I was but...the alternative seemed unthinkable at the time. I kept putting off making a decision. Later and later the pregnancy went on to the point where it was noticeable. Maybe only to me, but still noticeable. Then...the decision was made for me. I woke up to pain and blood and I rushed to the hospital, even though I had no insurance and it was going to cost a fortune. I was too freaked to care. I lost the baby and I was a mess. I hadn't realized that I started to picture my life with a child until it was no longer an option. I cried for days. I probably would have cried longer too but on a random Thursday afternoon, a heard a knock on the door. I didn't know anybody so I was curious enough to answer. A beautiful, but tough-looking, older woman with long brown hair was on the other side. I asked who she was and she told me her name was Mila and that this was the last address she had for her son Neal. I had no idea Neal's parents were even alive let alone had contact with him still. This made everything seem so much worse because it proved to me I didn't really know him all that well in the first place. Suffice it to say, I began crying all over again, right in front of Mila. I blame it on all the excess hormones in my body. She was understandably worried. She thought something had happened to her son since she couldn't get in contact with him in months and now I was crying. I was finally able to explain to her what happened, and because of all the emotions and her motherly presence, I ended up spilling my whole tragic life to her that day, right up to the point where I lost the baby. She immediately took control of the situation. She took responsibility for her son's mistake, telling me that she hadn't raised him properly or really at all. I told her it wasn't her fault but she was determined to help me out anyway. She brought me back home with her. Introduced me to people, set me up with a job. I owe her a lot."

 _The story was a lot to process to I tried to focus on small facts while I wrapped my head around all of it._

"Do you know what happened to Neal." Regina sneers him name.

"I've never spoken to him again and Mila doesn't mention him even though I think they have limited contact. We knew he's alive though because Gold had sent a P.I. out to find him to make sure of it."

"You are a very strong person." Regina states after a few moments.

"Strong?" Emma scoffs. "I was criminal. You don't have to pretend you don't think less of me for it."

Regina pulls away so that she can look Emma in the eye.

"I don't. And you are strong. You would have to be strong and resillant to have had the life you did and still turn out to be the wonderful person you are. If you remember, the first day we met you told me you had gotten into trouble in your youth. I didn't judge you then and I certainly wouldn't now."

Emma looks at Regina lovingly.

"Regina..." She sighs the name.

"Yes, my love?" Regina whispers.

Upon hearing this Emma surges forward and closes the smal distance between them.

The kiss begins slow and passionate but it doesn't take long before it heats up. Soon Regina finds herself hovering over Emma in her bra and pajama pants. She kisses down Emma's body before pulling off the other woman's pajama shorts.

"Regina?" Emma practically moans.

"Yes?" She stops and looks up at her.

"Are you sure?" Emma asks once their eyes meet.

"Very sure."

"Okay, then." Emma doesn't question anything further.

 _I will spare you the details of the night. Whether or not I'm actually talking to you it would be weird to "tell" my father of my sex life. I also think writing it down may make it loose some of it's magic._

 _And it WAS magical._

 _I have never once, in my life, felt so connected to another person. It amazes me that I was able to resist this so long. I don't regret it but...I am sad for lost time._

 _I was right the first day I met her when I thought she would ruin me for other women._

 _I was quickly becoming addicted to Emma. Not just intimate moments but her presence in my life. It's scary. She'll leave me again soon and I have no idea what I'm going to do when she does._


	29. December 25TH

_Henry woke me up the next morning exactly as he had last Christmas._

 _It's crazy to think that I've only had two Christmases with this amazing little boy. I feel as though he has been in my life forever._

 _Unfortunately that particular morning Emma and I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep before his 545 am wake up call.  
_

"Mommy!" "Emma!" "Mommy!" "Emma!" Henry whisper-shouts as he pokes his mother's face.

Regina was tempted to just keep sleeping and see how long he would go on for. Emma was still fast asleep, not even registering the noises Henry was making.

 _Maybe it was my mom senses that made me wake up?_

"Merry Christmas, my little Prince!" Regina finally says and swings her legs over the bed so she can get up and hug her little boy.

"Merry Christmas!" He says not even bothering to whisper anymore.

His mother shushes him gently and guides him to the door.

"How about we get some cocoa and start breakfast while Emma sleeps a little longer?"

"With whip cream and cin-min!"

"Of course." She says and bends down to pick him up.

Only then does Regina realize how sore she is and can't help but smirk to herself before placing Henry on the kitchen island stool.

"Did you see Santa ate my cookies?!"

"I did see that! That's because they were very good."

"We did a good job!"

"Yes we did." Regina says and puts the mug in front of him.

"Thank you mommy."

"You're very welcome." She says and goes to make herself coffee. She's really going to need it today. She was contemplating if she could convince Henry that they all needed a group nap later while cooking breakfast.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Emma sneaks up behind Regina and asks.

Regina almost drops the spatula in shock but manages to compose herself quickly.

 _Dam Emma for always startling me!_

Regina turns her head to give Emma a quick kiss. It takes a lot of self-control to keep it short. "I was thinking about a nap."

"A nap sounds awesome! How long have you been up?"

"Almost an hour."

"You could have woken me up too." Emma lets her know.

"You were tired. I was going to wake you up once breakfast was done."

"I am tired." Emma corrects. "Someone wore me out last night."

"Are you complaining?"

"Absolutely not!" The blond winks before taking her coffee over to the island and sitting next to Henry.

Henry was practically bouncing in his seat the entire meal so Regina and Emma made quick work of cleaning up so that they could start opening presents.

Regina didn't go quite as crazy with the presents under the tree for Henry this year but he didn't seem to notice. He was too excited to have a present from Emma this year. He opened it first because he couldn't wait.

Regina and Emma sat on the couch and took photos as he unwrapped his remote control race car from the package.

"I get to drive it?!" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah! I'll help you put it together and figure out how to use it." She tells him.

He launches himself at her. "Thank you Emma! I love you!"

Emma eyes bug wide for a second. The same way they did when Regina said those words a few nights earlier.

"Love you too, kid." She says after a moment though and pushes him quickly toward the other presents.

 _Am I jealous that Henry got an "I love you" before I did? Of course. Do I understand why? Of course. I'm honestly surprised Henry hadn't told her this sooner. He doesn't throw around the word with everyone but he is affectionate and clearly adores her.  
_

Henry then opens the books an clothes from his mother before moving on to open the board game and bell for this bicycle from "Santa".

"Your turn!" Henry says once all of his are open. "I want to take a picture."

Regina sets up the camera on her phone and hands it to Henry.

"Be careful" She reminds him.

"I know!" I know he says as only an exasperated child can. He then hands Emma and Regina both a small lumpy package.

They open them to see a bracelet each. Made by Henry himself. Each bead is colorful and differently shaped. Regina stretches the elastic so she can slip it onto her left wrist.

"Henry it's beautiful!" She compliments.

"Yeah kid! Thanks!" Emma says and they squeeze the little boy between them until the wiggles away.

"Grace showed me how to make them." He informs them.

"Who?" Emma asks Regina quietly.

"Little blond girl in Henry's class." Regina tells her.

"Ahh. Henry has a crush." She teases him.

"Do not!" He says.

"He's too young for that!" Regina says horrified by the thought.

"To date, yeah. But you're never to young for a crush."

Henry sticks his tongue at her before going through his stocking.

"He picked that up from you!" Regina accuses.

In response, Emma simply sticks her tongue out at Regina as well.

"Here." Regina says and reaches over the end table to grab Emma's gift.

"Pour moi?" Emma asks exaggeratedly.

"Yes, for you. We didn't talk about gifts but it's something small."

Emma opens the medium sized square box. Inside is a Finding Nemo mug filled with Hershey kisses and a Dunkin Doughnuts gift card. Emma laughs when she sees the picture on the mug.

"We can keep it here. This way you have your own mug when you come to stay."

Emma's smile turns from amused to adoring at Regina's suggestion. She hugs the mug closer to her chest.

"I have a gift for you too." She informs and picks a small box out of the tree branches before handing it to Regina.

Regina unwraps it slowly and stops breathing when she sees a small box.

 _There is only one thing a box like that holds, and it's jewelry. I knew logically it wouldn't be an engagement ring box but getting a little velvet box would make my heart beat faster regardless of the contents._

Regina finally manages to open the box to see a necklace. A very familiar necklace.

"It's your swan necklace!" Regina exclaims and holds the delicate chain between her fingers. She hadn't even realized that Emma didn't have it on.

"Yeah. I was going to buy you jewelry but I thought this would be more personal. If you don't want to wear it you don't have to. I just wanted you to have it. I got it cleaned and everything."

Regina only realizes now that she's never seen Emma without the necklace before.

"Put it on me." The brunette says and turns around so that Emma can link the clasps.

"Beautiful." Emma says when they turn back around.

They lock eyes. "I'm going to kiss you so hard when Henry isn't in the room." Regina says quietly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes."

Just then Henry comes over. "Can we call Aunt Kat?!"

Regina looks over to the clock. "Sure. It's an appropriate hour for people without kids to be awake." Regina says and takes the phone off the end table and calls her friend's number. She walks out of ear shot of the other two and prepares more coffee in the kitchen.

 _"Merry Christmas Reggie!"_

 _"Stop calling me that Kat! And Merry Christmas."_

 _"How is everything? I've barely spoken to you!"_

 _"I know I've been really busy lately."_

 _"Busy with a certain blond?"_

 _"Kat!"_

 _"Sorry sorry. Really though, how are you?"_

 _"I'm great. Just tired. Maybe if you keep Henry on the phone long enough I can take a nap."_

 _"Did Miss Ripped-Body keep you up all night?"_ Katherine teases.

 _"You have no idea."_ Regina smirks.

Katherine gasps dramatically. _"You didn't! Regina! I want to details!"_

 _"I'm am not giving you details."_ Regina whispers.

 _"You're no fun."_

 _"I can be fun!"_

 _"True. Speaking of which...did you tell them yet?"_

 _"No, that's why I wanted to talk to you before Henry did. Don't say anything to him. I want to tell them after dinner."_

 _"I get it. Make them think there are no more gifts and then...BAM."_

 _"Not how I would have put it, but essentially yes."_

 _"You have to record it! I can't wait to see Henry again."_

 _"Is this your way of telling me that we have to come up and visit you?"_

 _"Yes. Maybe when Henry gets out of school."_ Katherine says plainly. _"However, Jim and I want to see you sooner than that. And meet your lady love. When would be a good time?"_

 _"Emma is leaving in a few weeks. After that, the next time she should be around is the beginning of the racing season."_

 _"So beginning of February? We can do that! We'll take a long weekend."_

 _"I'll give you exact dates."_

 _"Okay, now enough of you. Put my handsome nephew on the phone."  
_

Regina rolls her eyes even knowing the other woman can't see. Kat however, knows her well enough to assume it's happening. Regina hands Henry the phone and he paces the entire house while talking to her.

Regina uses the temporary opportunity to grab Emma's face and pull them together. Emma seems startled by the abrupt kiss but quickly catches on.

"If I didn't say it before, thank you for the gift. It means a lot that you would give this to me." Regina says once they break apart. She puts a hand on the necklace and twists the chain.

"I'm glad you like it! And thank you for the mug. I can't wait to use it."

Regina smiles.

Henry comes in and hands her the phone. Regina quirks her eyebrow that was either a quick chat or they had been kissing longer than she realized. Knowing Henry, it was probably the second.

"Did you tell Aunt Kat all about your gifts?"

"Yup!"

"Did she tell you her and Uncle Jim are going to try and come visit us soon?"

"Really?!"

"That's what she said. Even if they don't, I promise to take you to their house this year okay? Maybe this summer."

"Yay!"

"That's nice." Emma comments.

"It is. She said they want to try and come some time you're here so they can meet you."

"She sounds like a hoot. I would love to meet her."

Just then Emma's phone buzzes and she picks it up.

"It's a Merry Christmas text from Mila." Emma explains. "Oh she sent a picture. Looks like she and Jones are back together."

"Is he in the photo?" Regina says and leans over. Henry pays more interest to the conversation and looks over as well. It's a photo in the middle of the ocean at sunrise.

"No, but she's clearly on his boat right now."

"He has a boat?"

"A ship actually. The "Jolly Roger." He lives on it most of the off season. I swear he fancies himself a pirate."

"A pirate?!" Henry exclaims.

"Not a real pirate. He wishes."

"I can be a pirate!" He curls his pointer finger into a hook and pretends to have a sword in the other hand. He pretends to sword fight an invisible enemy for a few minutes before successfully defeating them.

"You are a better pirate than he is!" Emma comments.

"Maybe they'll make you a knight like Emma with sword fighting skills like that, my prince."

Henry smiles proudly and sits on his mother's lap.

"Let's send her a photo back." Emma says and they all squeeze together on the couch to take a selfie to send.

"Ew take a better one." Regina says when she sees it.

"No it's cute!"

"It's not. My hair is a mess!"

"It's early morning still and it looks nice. Stop." She says holding out the phone so that Regina can't take it from her.

"You're ridiculous."

"YOU'RE ridiculous."

"Mommy let's watch a movie."

 _After that we stopped bickering and watched "A Christmas Story." We all happened to fall asleep before Ralphie even gets to the department store and slept to the end. The singing at the Chinese restaurant is actually what woke me up._

 _Henry decided that this year he wanted to hang out in his pajamas all day. I agreed to put on comfy clothes but I did feel the need to change out of my pajamas. All Emma did was put on a pullover._

 _It was a relaxing day after the crazy morning. They both helped me prepare dinner and everything turned out wonderful. Emma's knife skills have really improved since she's been staying with us. Almost any day I've made dinner she has insisted on helping me. I loved teaching her. It's a special time we have together.  
_

"Mommy, will you read me "Once Upon A Time" before bed?"

"Of course. Before we get ready for bed though... I have one more gift for you guys."

"Me too?" Emma asks confused.

"Yes." Regina says and leaves them to go to her bedroom and grab the box.

She comes back in the room to find Henry sitting on Emma's lap on the couch. They are both impatiently waiting to see what she has for them. She smiles and tries to subtly place her phone on the television stand so that it can record the moment like Kat suggested.

"Here."

Henry rips his box open, ignoring the envelope attached to the front at first.

"Disney magic bands?" Emma says while looks curiously at the picture on the box.

Henry doesn't seem to know what to make of it either, but it was Disney characters on it so he's excited regardless.

"Open the letter, Henry." Regina suggests.

"He opens the letter, which is on Mickey Mouse stationary. He begins to read aloud in a stuttering way most small children do.

"Dear Henry, Oh boy...I am ex-excited for you to come and visit. We are going...to have so much fun. Rem-remember to wear the magic bands. See you real soon. Love Mickey Mouse!" He pauses to take a breath. "Mommy are we visiting Mickey Mouse?!" His face lights up.

"Yes, we are."

"WHEN?! NOW?!" He jumps off Emma's lap in excitement.

"No, not now. After New Years."

"How many days?!" He demands to know.

"Eight."

He counts them on his fingers. "Okay!" He says, satisfied that it doesn't even take up two whole hands to count the days.

Meanwhile, Emma has been silent throughout Henry's outburst. She is looking down at the yellow band that was above her name in the box.

"Emma?" Regina finally asks.

 _I was beginning to think this was a terrible idea. What if she didn't want to go with us? What if she thought the gift was too extravagant? I had already bought her tickets and booked the rooms and dinners for us._

Emma looks up at the other woman. Her eyes are glassy and it's clear she's holding back tears.

"You're taking me to Disney World with you?" She finally asks.

"You don't have to come." Regina says misinterpreting the tears. "But we both really want you to be there." She adds. Henry nods his head enthusiastically.

A few tears slip out before Emma gets up and hugs Regina tightly. Regina rubs her back, still a little unsure of the reaction but always welcoming a hug from her love.

Her shoulder is feels a little damp so she assumes Emma is still crying.

 _I had never actually seen Emma cry before. The closest she had come was the night before, but even then her voice was lined with enough anger to drive the sadness away. Now, watching her, I couldn't help but feel my own eyes become glassy. Especially after I hear a whispered "thank you."  
_

"So you're coming with us?" Regina clarifies, hope leaking into her voice.

"Wouldn't miss it." She says with a watery smile.

"Yay!" Henry bursts and throws himself at the two women. "Eight days! Eight days!"

 _I thought his counting was cute at the time. Little did I know that his chanting would become a daily routine. Thank god I only told him about a week in advance._

 _We are leaving tomorrow and I know this next week will be chaotic, but I'm getting more excited by the second._ _Everyone else is asleep right now. (Although Henry didn't go down easily.) My mind was full of reflections and I could drift off easily._ _This past week was filled with panning and packing. Then there a New Years party at the restaurant where, for the first time in my life, I was able to kiss someone I loved at midnight. I haven't said the actual words since that first time, but I feel better knowing that they are out there.  
_

 _I can't help feeling like I'm going on my first real family vacation. I only hope she feels that way too._


	30. Disney's Boardwalk Resort

_Our Disney adventure began early._

 _And what an adventure it was!_

 _No matter how much I planned out the vacation, it still seemed to be filled with completely unexpected surprises._

 _We left fairly early in the morning on Tuesday. This was a good thing since we ended up stopping three times on our two hour drive! I wasn't too concerned about getting to the hotel at a certain time though. I hadn't bought us tickets for that day for this specific reason. I wanted us to relax that day and go to bed early so that we would be rested for the parks the next day._

 _We stayed at the Boardwalk resort._

"Wow!" Emma says when she walks into the lobby of the resort. She stops dead in her tracks and looks up at the ceiling and chandeliers.

"It is quite beautiful."

"Mommy! A mini carousel!" Henry shouts and points.

"I'm going to check us in. Do you want to watch the stuff for a moment."

When Regina gets back the two are pressed against the outside windows looking out onto the boardwalk and lake.

"Regina, this is the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. The nicest I've probably ever set foot in!" Emma comments. "You do realize that Henry is a child. He probably would have been happy with the cheap hotel. In fact, in twenty years he probably won't even remember what hotel we stayed in."

Regina waves off her comments as if they mean nothing. "I want to stay somewhere nice. If it was just us adults, I may have even stayed at the Grad Floridian instead...that place looks gorgeous. But this is more fun for Henry."

When they arrived at the room Emma immediately flung herself onto one of the two full sized beds. "I guess that one's ours." Regina comments.

Henry kicks off his shoes and jumps on the other bed.

"Henry be careful!" Regina chastises before going to the bathroom to freshen up. When she does, she see that the towels are folded into different animals. She calls the other two in to see it before actually getting ready.

"What's the plan for today?" Emma asks.

"I thought we could relax for the day. Go to the pool. If we want we could go to Downtown Disney later. Although I believe it's mostly just more shops." Regina says though the closed door.

"Let's explore the hotel first!" Emma suggests.

"Explore!" Henry agrees.

"It says here that the pools are heated so maybe we'll do that after lunch." Emma adds looking at the pamphlet she found on the end table.

Regina comes back out and begins to put her clothes in the dresser.

"I never unpack at hotels." Emma comments.

"Well you can do what you'd like, I for one, and not living out of a bag for a week." Regina says and continues unpacking hers and Henry's things while trying to remember if Emma had been living out of a bag the entire stay at the house. The thought makes her a little sad.

A half an hour later the trio made their way through the rest of the hotel. They explored the inside first before finally going outside onto the boardwalk. They ate sandwiches and cupcakes at the "boardwalk bakery" before walking around the shops. Henry wanted every toy he saw. Regina had to promise him that they would get him a few things during the trip but sternly made him realize that he couldn't get everything so he would have to choose what he actually wanted well.

They got changed and went to the pool next. Regina laid out on a chair watching as Emma and Henry went down the water-slide.

 _I was immensely glad that Henry had someone had these type of things with. The trip would have been a lot different with just the two of us._

Although they were able to actually get me into the pool at some point, I still refused to go down the slide.

"How is everyone feeling?" Regina asks after about two hours at the pool.

"Ready to get out!" Emma says. "I'm all wrinkly and gross."

"You could never be gross, dear."

"What if I make this face?" Emma asks and twists her face into a silly position. Henry laughs. "Or if I chew with my mouth open?" She asks.

"Please don't do that!" Regina begs and shudders. It's a pet peeve of hers. Emma knows this.

"We'll be on our best behavior. Right Henry?" She asks and helps him out of the pool.

"Right!" He agrees.

"Well I say we should go back up and get changed. Then we can go out to dinner and have an early night." Regina suggests.

"Tomorrow we go to the castle?" Henry asks.

"Yes, my prince. Bight and early!"

"Okay!"

Bright and early it was too. Regina set an alarm for 5 the next morning so she could get ready. She had to use force to push Emma off her so that she could shut off the alarm.

The bed was slightly smaller than we were use to. And although still comfortable enough to fit the two of us, Emma's cuddling always turned into her on top of me by the morning.

Regina wakes up Henry once she is ready for the day and tells him to wake up Emma. He does this by jumping on her.

"It's too early." She grumbles.

"We're eating breakfast before we leave." Regina informs her. "Besides you're use to waking up early and going running."

"Vacation means seep!" She responds and pulls the covers over her.

"Henry what is rule number one?" Regina asks.

"No whining!" He shouts, happy to have remembered. "We are at Mickey Mouses home. It is rude to complain when you are a guest in someone's home!"

"Good job!" She hugs him. "Those rules now apply to you too Emma so get up while I get Henry ready."

Emma peaks out from under the covers.

"How come he gets a morning hug?"

Regina smirks and her and Henry both hug her until she finally sits up.

"Magic Kingdom here we come!" She says much more awake.

* * *

 **I hit the hundred followers mark! Thank you guys! I really hope you are enjoying it!**

 **Also, although I could write a whole story about being in Disney World (and I believe that would be the most epic season of the actual show!) I don't plan to drag the vacation out into too many chapters. Maybe about two after this.**


	31. Dad Jokes and Meeting Snow Whites

_We got to the park not long after it opened. Thankfully this meant it wasn't too crowded. Henry was fascinated by the wrist bands and finger print scans. The crew member watching told him that this was only the beginning of the magic he would see. Between that and seeing the castle in the distance when walking in, I thought he was going to pee his pants. I was worried that I would have to change him into his comfy long pants I had in my backpack for him for tonight.  
_

 _Speaking of the backpack..._

"You look like such a mom today." Emma comments.

Regina bristles. She can't see how that would be a compliment but she isn't sure Emma meant it in a bad way either.

"Well I am one, dear."

"It's not a bad thing." Emma insists. "I'm just use to seeing you in smart looking outfits and heels. Even your casual clothing is expensive. Today you just have less make up and flats and a backpack. I like it." She shrugs after trying to defend her comment.

Regina smirks at her. "Maybe I should make you wear the backpack."

Emma makes an unpleasant face and Regina simply laughs before directing the two of them to a shop near the entrance.

"We just got here and the first thing we're going to do is shop?" Emma questions.

"We have to get Henry his ears."

Henry looks at all the different themed Mickey Mouse ear hats on the wall but in the end still chooses the classic pair. They find one that fits his head and take it in the back to stitch his name on in gold.

 _I hadn't dressed Henry in a costume that day even though I'm sure he would have let me. I just wanted him to be comfortable. And not TOO embarrassed if he ever looks at these pictures as a teenager._

 _Despite lack of costume, I DID purposely dress him in a red shirt and black shorts today. I knew I would buy him ears and this was my subtle way of dressing him up.  
_

After buying him ears they have the photographer take their photo on main street with the castle in the background. Regina wanted to have a nice picture before they became all tired and sweaty from the day. He gave her a photo pass so that she could view them and any other photos crew members may take that day.

Henry wanted to take the train around the park after. They got on at the main entrance platform and took it all the way back to the beginning again. It was a good way to see some of the park without walking the entire thing. Henry was still anxious to walk through the castle though so they got off. Unfortunately/Fortunately they couldn't walk through because a show had just started on the castle steps and they had it gated off. They stayed and watched the show and waited until they could pass through again.

 _Henry seemed a little disappointed that there was only a hallway to pass through and not the real inside of a castle but as soon as we made it to the other side he became excited again. Emma wasn't disappointed for a second though. She didn't say much but I watched as her eyes took in everything excitedly. I have to admit I was excited too. The murals of Cinderella were beautiful!_

Once they made it to the other side, their first stop was Princess Fairytale Hall where they could meet Snow White and Rapunzel.

The wait was long but Emma insisted that Regina needed a picture with her "enemy." The line led them to a large room with each Princess standing several feet away from each other. Snow White was first and greeted them warmly when the family in front of them moved on.

"Hello! And who are you? Are you a dwarf?" She greets Henry.

"I'm a kid!" He says as if it's obvious.

"Oh my apologies but you look too magical to be a child. Are you sure you're not at least a prince?" She titters.

"I am!" He nods his head.

"Well then that must mean your mother is a Queen." She says and looks to the two women not sure which woman or both to direct the question to.

"She's the evil queen." Henry whispers loudly.

"What?!" The princess says shocked. She then looks right at Regina. "My..my apologies step-mother. I didn't recognize you."

Regina smirks. For all of Emma's teasing this morning Regina still does look as fierce as usual and could easily pull off the role if she wished.

"Don't stammer dear. it's unbecoming." Regina responds.

 _I could tell the girl was amused by our banter but she was wonderful at keeping up._

"Yes, of course." She says and gives Henry a worried face. "How about we take a photo to remember this reunion?"

"Anything you say mom." Emma says casually and stands next to her.

Regina has to work hard to keep a straight face at Emma's words. The princess has no idea what to make of the comment so she just ignores it and puts one arm around her. Emma looks at her happily while Henry stands in front of her. Regina stands to the side and glares at her.

 _I looked at the photo that night online...it was perfect. I'm printing it out._

They then moved on to Rapunzel who greets them immediately.

"I heard your mom is the Evil Queen." She mock whispers to Henry.

He nods his head.

"Please don't tell Mother Gothel I'm here your majesty." The princess with a long blond wig begs Regina.

"We had a falling out years ago and haven't spoken since." Regina assures her.

Rapunzel smiles. She then looks at Emma. "What pretty hair you have!"

"Thanks. I like your braid."

"Would you like one?" She asks and then grabs some of Emma's hair and starts braiding it. Emma gives Regina a startled look. Henry laughs.

"I wish I could braid your hair too." Rapunzel tells Henry. "It's too short though. Sometimes I wish my hair was short."

Soon she is done with the braid and they take a picture with her as well.

"I looked more like her than snow white." Emma comments with a laugh.

"Maybe the Prince was blonde?" Regina suggests deadpan.

"Maybe."

Next, the trio make their way to "It's a small world" ride. The line is long again but not as bad as the last one. Regina got fast passes put on their bracelets but not for this ride.

After a few minutes of waiting Henry begins to tug on his mother's hand. "Mommy. She looks like Snow White!"

"Who?" Regina turns to where he is pointing.

 _Standing just one couple behind us was none other than Mary Margaret and the rest of the Nolan gang. I may not have seen her since my mother's funeral but there was no mistaking it was her._

 _I swear my jaw hit the floor._

"Mary Margaret!" She practically shout. Much louder than intended.

M.M looks up at the sound of her name. When she sees Regina a huge smile appears on her face. Emma is a little confused but tells the people behind them that they can cut ahead so that the women can speak freely.

When there is no one blocking her way M.M grabs Regina into a tight hug. "This is crazy! I can't believe you're here!"

"I should be saying that to you. I live much closer than you do."

"I actually thought about you when we were planning this trip but I knew we wouldn't have enough time off to visit you." M.M says sadly. "But not you're here!" She becomes excited once more. "And this must be Henry!"

"Hi." Henry says shyly.

"Aren't you precious!"

"Hello Regina" David finally speaks up from behind his wife.

"Hello David." Regina greets with a smile.

"And who is this?" M.M asks.

"Oh sorry! This is my...girlfriend Emma." Regina stutters for a moment before saying girlfriend. She didn't want M.M to make a big deal out of it like she knew the other woman was bound to do.

However all M.M did was raise an eyebrow at Regina with a pleased smile before greeting Emma.

Then Snow introduces her two boys.

"This is Leo. He is nine." She gestures to the older boy. "And this is Max. He is six like Henry." She points to the younger boys who is wearing a Goofy hat and trying to swing from the railings.

David pulls him off and makes him say hello. He seems uninterested until he notices that Henry is the same age as him.

They catch up with pleasantries before all boarding the same boast for the ride. Henry sang along in the front while Regina looked at Emma with a pained expression. The blond laughed before rubbing her hand down Regina's back soothingly.

Meanwhile Max was trying to escape the boat and his mother was restraining him.

"I'm going to have that song stuck in my head all day." David laughs as they exit.

"It gave me a headache." Regina agrees.

"I'm hungry." Henry tells Emma.

"Hi Hungry, I'm Emma." The blonde responds.

David laughs and Henry pouts. Regina rolls her eyes.

"Making bad Dad jokes already?" She teases.

Emma shrugs with a smile.

"How about we all go to lunch." M.M invites.

The two families eat lunch at Gaston's Tavern. They even meet the man himself outside afterward.

 _I have an adorable picture of Henry and Gaston both flexing their "muscles" together.  
_

 _We unofficially decided to spend the day together. It was M.M and David's last day of vacation so we knew it would be a long time before we saw each other again._

The group goes on a few rides all together like "Enchanted Tales with Belle" and "Under the Sea."

 _The boys see the "Dwarves Mine Train" and beg to go on that next. Thankfully we measured Henry before coming and he was exactly 40 inches which meant he could go on almost anything at the parks._

 _I still had a headache however and did not feel like going on the coaster._

"I should probably sit this one out too." M.M say and places her hands on her stomach.

Regina raises an eyebrow at the gesture. "Congratulations?"

"Thanks." The brunette confirms.

"Do you know what you're having yet?" Emma asks.

"We have an appointment to find out when I get back. I know I'm having a girl though."

"How do you know?" Emma asks curiously.

"David's mother has this charm and if you hold it over your stomach and see what way it swings it will tell you the gender of the baby."

"You don't really believe in all that, do you?" Emma questions.

Regina rolls her eyes. "Yes, yes she does."

"It worked for the last two!" M.M insists.

"Well I hope it's right for your sake." She says and nudges David. "And don't name her Emma and send her through a tree portal." She adds to M.M. They married couple looks at her like she's nuts but then David laughs and they take the kids and get on line.

Regina and Mary Margaret find a place to sit and wait.

"It is really nice to see you Regina." M.M says sincerely.

"You too. The boys have gotten so big!"

"I've sent pictures." She accuses.

"And I've responded." Regina defends.

"Yes, usually to yell at me and tell me to take you off my group emails."

"Well sue me for not wanting a thousand emails from people I don't even know."

M.M. just smiles at the scowling Regina. But even the scowl is half-hearted and doesn't last long.

"I don't think I've ever seen you like this."

"Like what?"

"Happy. Light-hearted. In-love?"

Regina wants to have a snappy comeback but all she can do is smile.

"I'm glad you're being your true self and have found a family." M.M continues after seeing the smile.

 _FAMILY._

 _That world carried a lot of weight. That's what we are though, right? A family. This is what we appeared to everyone here at least. It's what it feels like to me._

 _I'm just not sure Emma is ready to hear it though. I know she's had trouble with the idea of a family. And I desperately don't want to push her too far._

 _However, I am anxious for the day when I can freely introduce the two most important people in my life as such.  
_

* * *

 **I think this was my favorite chapter to write so far. I love Disney World.**


	32. Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

_We finally parted from the Nolan's when we had to leave for our dinner reservations._

 _It was sad for everyone. Emma and David had formed a fast friendship. They were both fascinated by the others job (him a sheriff and her a Nascar mechanic). They both seemed to have the same sense of humor too. If I hadn't known David's parent's well enough to know they would never give up a child, I would question if they were siblings._

 _Henry and Max also seemed to get along well. I was wary at first because Max seemed like a trouble maker but as the day went on I could tell he was very smart and sweet at heart. Poor boy will probably get even less attention once he is officially a middle child too. I wish he and Henry could spend more time together. I think they could benefit for the other. _

_Leo had been amazed that Emma was strong enough to pick him and Max up at the same time and goof around with them._

 _And me, well I had forgotten what it was like to be around people who were so happy and wished with all their heart for my happiness._

"Are you crying?" Emma asks disbelievingly after they say goodbye.

"No, of course not." Regina snaps even though her eyes do feel watery.

"I stand by my original assessment." Emma then concludes.

"What was that?" Regina says not remembering what Emma is talking about.

"When I said you two were like sisters. After finally meeting her it's obvious."

"How so?"

"You were so excited to see her. Then as the day went on you bickered, teased her, and became annoyed with her. Then when she leaves you cry because you'll miss her."

"You're sad too." Regina deflects.

"I am. They're hard to dislike. We should visit them sometime."

Regina looks at Emma happily.

 _We ate dinner at the Crystal Palace. It's a buffet which Emma liked and a character dinner, which Henry liked. Winnie the Pooh characters came around to our table while we were eating. Emma even got up and hugged Pooh Bear._

 _Again, a very adorable photo was captured._

 _I'm not one for taking pictures. I've always believed a few great photos were worth more than a hundred okay photos that you will never look at again. However this trip was producing so many moments that I want to keep forever that my phone began filling up with all the memories.  
_

 _After dinner Henry changed into his long pants and we went outside to get a good spot to wait for Wishes Nighttime Spectacular to start. We stood close to the Walt and Mickey Statue. Henry danced around excitedly while we were waiting but when the announcer's voice told us it was about to start Emma let him sit on her shoulders._

 _The show was...magical. There is truly no other word for it. I nearly gasped myself when Tinkerbell flew flew in the sky. And the way they lit up the castle with all different patterns to go with the music and clips from movies._

 _I almost cried._

 _I don't even LIKE Disney movies that much and it had this affect on me.  
_

 _Once the actual fireworks started I think Emma noticed how tense I became beside her._

Emma looks over at Regina and sees that she's slightly teary. She squeezes her hand tighter.

Regina looks back at her and Henry lovingly. Henry is unaware of this moment as he stares up at the fireworks.

"I love you." Emma whispers.

 _And even though I couldn't really hear with all the noise, there was no mistaking the words her lips were forming._

 _My heart stopped and right then a significantly loud boom sounded in the sky and it started right back up again. I had only said those words to her once but I felt them every day and I hoped this meant that I could finally be free to say them every day as well._

Regina kissed Emma's cheek and whispered the words right back into Emma's ear as the final set of fireworks exploded overhead.

 _To say I was on a high after that would be an understatement._

 _The entire rest of the trip I felt like I was flying. Maybe it really only does take happy thoughts._

 _By all accounts the next day at Hollywood Studios was a disaster too. It rained most of the day. Henry fell in a puddle and I didn't have pants so we had to buy him a pair. The line we were on for Star Tours was delayed due to "technical difficulties" and we ended up waiting for an hour and a half for the ride listening to C3PO say the same lines over and over again._

 _Nothing got me down though. I was focused on the good things, like Emma's competitiveness during the Toy Story ride, or Henry's excitement at finally Meeting Mickey Mouse. Those are the memories that will stick with me._  


 _That magic and love I felt never diminished -even slightly- for the next two days at the park._

 _Epcot was my favorite park. (Although their fireworks show could never compare to the magic kingdom's in my mind.) I loved seeing all of the countries. When we got to the Italy pavilion Emma expressed her interest in traveling there._

"I would love to go there. Have you ever been? I know you have family there."

"My family went once when I was very small. I couldn't really appreciate it. I would love to go back though."

"Maybe we can go someday."

"Yes. Maybe someday."

 _Maybe Someday._

 _It always comes back to that._

 _I have much more hope for the phrase this time than I ever had before.  
_

 _..._

 _Anyway, Emma and Henry didn't seem to appreciate Epcot as much as I did overall. This is with the exception of a few attractions. They both LOVED The Seas with Finding Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush. And Emma was naturally fascinated by Testrack._

 _Our last day we went to Animal Kingdom right when it opened in the morning and then to the Magic Kingdom again that night. The first day we were at the park we hadn't even made it over to Frontier Land so we knew we had to go back._

 _We all got soaked on the Kali River rapids though so I insisted we take the bus back to the hotel before going to Magic Kingdom._

 _Emma had been disappointed we couldn't go on Expedition Everest with Henry since he was too small but she said that means we'll just have to come back when he's older._

 _The fact that she casually mentioned a future where we are still a family made my heart soar. There wasn't even a 'maybe' attached to this future vacation!  
_

 _Needless to say, I wasn't ready to leave our little vacation bubble. But life means having to constantly move forward.  
_

 _And as much as I didn't want to leave. I'm ready to move forward with Emma._


	33. Double Date

_It's been over a month since we got back from our trip. A lot has been happening in that time._

 _The most significant is Emma leaving us...twice._

 _The first time, she had to go back to North Carolina to prepare for the season. When she left, it wasn't as bad._

 _Don't get me wrong, it was terrible. Going from seeing her all the time to nothing was a shock to the system. It was worst at night. During the day Henry and I were both busy with school and work but it was usually once dinner rolled around that the loneliness crept in. Especially laying alone in my bed. I've never really shared a bed consistently with someone and it's surprising how quickly I became use to it._

 _As bad as it was, knowing that I would see her again soon made it much easier to handle. I didn't write to you because I refused to duel on it. I tried my best to stay busy and not let her absence affect me too much. Henry needed me after all.  
_

 _She came back in the beginning of February. Our reunion was the greatest feeling in the world. I finally let myself cry all the tears I held in while she was gone. And yes, I know it's dramatic, and you would think we'd been apart much longer than we were, but we are in-love so sue me._

 _Blessedly, there were two weeks worth of races so even with both of our busy schedules, I was still able to spend some time with her. She came to a few dinners, we went to the park one day, and Henry and I were even able to attend one of the races again. We had even more fun than the first time since we knew more about the sort and felt more comfortable in the environment.  
_

 _The day at the park though, was my favorite day. It was such a simple but meaningful outing.I loved watching Henry and Emma play together. And that day, more so than ever before I started to see her as a parent to Henry. The only problem was, I wasn't sure how she felt about the situation. I know she loves him, but occasionally acting like a babysitter and being a parent are two very different things. I sat trying to think up ways to gauge her feelings when she surprisingly brought up the subject of children first.  
_

"That little girl is so cute!" Emma says watching a two year old blonde girl toddle around the playground. The girl's father following anxiously a few feet behind.

"She really is."

"Not as cute as Henry though." Emma says and watching the boy go down the slide with a friend he had just made.

Regina smiles. "No. I have a few pictures of him at that age and he has always been a handsome boy."

"I'd like to see those."

Regina holds Emma's hand and watches the little girl some more. Who she is assuming is the girl's mother is with two other young children further away but keeps looking over to watch the girl and the man.

"Do you ever want more children?" Emma asks.

"Yes and no."

"Explain." Emma asks more than demands.

Regina pauses to think about how to phrase her explanation. "Henry wouldn't be the boy he is if he grew up with me from the beginning. I don't regret anything about adopting him or the age he was at the time BUT that doesn't mean I don't wish I could have experienced raising him from the beginning. Sometimes, I think that I would like to try. Especially when I see children like that girl. A part of me would love a baby girl. A bigger part of me stopped believing I would have children at all so having Henry is more than enough for more. To wish for more feels almost ungrateful. Plus," She adds looking to Emma cautiously. "being a single parent is hard. Henry is a good child but I'm not sure I could manage another on my own."

Emma stays quiet but Regina can see from her peripheral that she's nodding her head in understanding.

"Do you want children?" Regina asks cautiously.

"I honestly don't know." Emma admits. "I never thought I did. Like even when I was a child myself I didn't really dream of being a mother. The only time I even thought about it was..." She trails off but Regina knows what she's referring to and squeezes her hand in encouragement. "The thought that I could have a ten year old right now is insane. I literally can not begin to imagine how different my life would be. I'm not even good with kids!"

"You're great with Henry." Regina insists finally looking at Emma.

"Henry's different."

"How?"

"He just is. I don't know why."

 _I didn't insist she explain. I knew that sometimes there are no words to express your feelings. Henry had been different for me too. I loved him at first sight. And to hear that Emma feels that connection, even to a much lesser degree, was enough for me for now.  
_

 _As much as I loved our day at the park, the night we met Katherine and Jim for dinner was wonderful. Honestly the only reason it wasn't my favorite day is because it also happened to be my last night with her.  
_

 _We ate at a very nice restaurant by the beach. We chose one in Daytona because it was convenient for Emma. Kat and Jim had just arrived and drove straight there from the airport. I had left Henry at home with a sitter, knowing he would be asleep before we got back. He was upset he couldn't come with us, and honestly I felt guilty for not being there to put him to bed, but I needed this adult time.  
_

"Reggie!" Katherine shouts when she sees Regina and Emma arrive at the restaurant.

"Kat!" Regina says excitedly and hugs her friend.

"Reggie?" Emma questions the name.

"Don't even think about it." Regina responds.

Kat laughs. "Emma! It's so great that we could have this double date! I feel like I'm the last one to meet you!" Kat fake pouts. "Even M.M met you before me!"

"It's great to meet you guys! I think you're the only people able to tell me embarrassing Regina stories."

"I'm so excited to finally have someone to tell them to!"

Regina glares playfully at them.

Jim meanwhile stood behind his wife and smiled at the scene before Regina greets him and properly introduces Emma.

"I'm outnumbered by blondes." Regina complains to Emma in mock horror on the way to the table.

"Well you're bound to have fun tonight."

"Where did that stereotype even come from?"

"I don't know but in this case it's true!"

Soon the group sits down. The restaurant has an extensive wine list and Regina is intrigued. She doesn't drink often but between working in restaurants and her mother's influence, she knows a lot about wine.

"What will everyone have to drink?" The young waiter asks.

Emma and Jim both order beer.

"Pino Noir." Regina says and rather than butcher the French brand name she points to the vintage and make on the list. He dutifully writes down the information.

"Iced Tea." Katherine says.

Regina looks at her skeptically.

"Sweetened?" He asks.

"No."

"Okay, I'll be right out with those." He says before leaving.

"What?" Kat asks when she notices Regina's stare. But the longer Regina looks at her the harder she finds it to keep the smile or blush off her face.

"Oh My God!" Regina forces herself not to shout.

"What?" Kat asks again. This time only pretending not to know what the outburst was about.

"You're pregnant! How far along are you? When did you find out?! Why didn't you tell me when you found out! Is that why you came all the way down here? Is it safe for you to be flying?" Regina asks animatedly and all at once.

"Regina calm down." Kat laughs.

"Calm down?!" Regina repeats indignantly.

"Congratulations." Emma offers after Regina's outburst.

"Thank you." Kat says genuinely.

"Yes! Oh my gosh, congrats guys!" Regina catches up. Emma's comment seems to bring her back to the moment.

"Thanks" Jim laughs and gives her a hug. Hugs then proceed all around.

When the waiter comes by with the drink they realize they haven't even looked at the dinner menu yet and hold off conversation for a few minutes.

After ordering it resumes.

"I'm offended you knew by the mere fact I wasn't drinking." Kat says. "I'm not an alcoholic."

"I never said you were dear." Regina teases. "And it wasn't just the drinking. For a lawyer you have quite the terrible poker face."

"Only around you! Well...and Jim. For some reason I can't keep it together around you two."

After dinner (and several more drinks) the two pairs make their way out of the restaurant. They did indeed have a fun night.

Katherine watches as Regina clings onto Emma for a few moments.

"You have the hotel room for tonight right?" Kat asks her.

"Yeah but I was going to come back with you guys so that I could say goodbye to Henry in the morning." Emma explains.

"How about you two stay at the hotel tonight."

"What about Henry?" Regina asks.

"He's already asleep and we'll be there if he needs anything. I'll bring him by so you guys can still have breakfast tomorrow morning." Kat insists.

 _I honestly didn't fight her too hard about it. I felt guilty that Henry would wake up and I wouldn't be there but I also knew he would be so excited to see his "aunt" and "uncle" that he would be fine until they arrived for breakfast._

 _To be honest though, in out state of intoxication, Emma and I couldn't keep out hands off each other and I wanted to be with just her on our last night together for a long time.  
_

 _She woke me up the next morning with kisses all down my bare shoulder. The sensation was delightful._

"I don't want to get up." Regina mumbles and holds her closer.

"I know but we have to get ready. Kat will be here soon and... I have to leave in a few hours."

"I don't want you to."

"It's nice that someone care enough to not want me to leave them."

"I do. I care." Regina reminds her. "Henry does too."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I have something to tell you." Emma says cautiously.

Regina stiffens slightly at the tone. "Is it bad?"

"No?" Emma answers in an unsure tone.

"Okay, what?" Regina asks and lays to face the other woman completely.

"Herc announced that he is leaving after this year which means there will be an opening on the pit crew. Killian said if I do well in training that the position is mine."

"That's amazing Emma!" Regina says in a proud tone. She knows this was Emma's dream job."

"Yeah it awesome." Emma says less than enthusiastically.

"What's wrong?"

"Well...it's just that it's a more demanding position. I would probably see you even less than I do now."

"Oh." Regina silent for a moment.

 _I didn't like it. The idea of it made my heart hurt. I wish I could tell her not to. I actual wish I could tell her not to leave me...right then or ever really._

 _But how could I do that? This was her dream. I was just an unexpected addition to her life plan._

"If they offer it. You should take it." Regina finally decides to say.

Emma looks surprised but the response.

"I won't be the reason you don't follow your dream. We'll figure something out."

 _Deep down in my heart though...I wasn't sure we would figure it out. And that doubt scares the crap out of me._

* * *

 **Thanks for all the responses! I also think this story is on it's last legs. So only a few more chapters left.**


	34. Depressed

_I thought I couldn't cry anymore._

 _I was wrong._

 _I should have known from past experiences that people don't just run out of tears. As long as you continue to keep your body nourished, they'll persist. But the thing is, recently I haven't been hungry which was worrying but now I may view as a good thing. _

_Okay, so you're probably wondering why, after months of not writing to you, there are tears falling on the paper and blurring the ink when I finally decide to.  
_

 _And honestly it's a long story. One that was months in the making. But I will weave you this sad tale.  
_

 _When Emma left after the Daytona 500 it was hard. But those first few days I was in denial. My best friend was visiting and I was use to being away from her for a short period of time. It didn't get hard until Kat and Jim went back home. Real life started again and I wish it never had. That when I started to cry._

 _I don't like crying. Mother as always told me it was a weak thing to do. And as much as I cried those first few days with just Henry and myself again, it really wasn't as often as I'm making it sound. I saved the tears for times alone in my bed. But for me, this was still an unacceptable amount of moping._

 _If only I had known then what and inappropriate amount of moping was..._

 _Anyway it got better after a few weeks. Better, and worse actually.( Anybody who says you can't feel two contradictory things at once is naive.) It got BETTER because I got use to her being away. We would call and text. We even tried Facetime and explored all the ways a relationship could thrive through a webcam..._

 _Finding new ways to stay connected became a game after a while. It made things better._

 _It was WORSE because the longer she was gone the more I longed to be around her. Henry would have a school play or say something adorable and I would just think "I wish Emma was here". The longer she was gone, the more often that would happen.  
_

 _By May I was becoming needy and insecure. It was harder and harder to think of our future together and not just see an endless amount of the same loneliness I was feeling. When would it end? How many years would she keep this job? Even when she would have to retire would she choose to have another job in the company where she traveled?_

 _I'm sure I started pulling away at that point. Not that I realized it at the time. It was just harder sometimes to talk to her than to not talk to her. When we spoke or I saw her I was reminded of how much I missed her and couldn't shut out my feelings like I did the rest of the day._

 _Then the night occurred. Yes, THE night. That's how I've come to think of it._

 _I had stayed up later than usual waiting for Emma to call me. We hadn't spoken in more than text messages for 9 days. I had only noticed this fact that night and I wasn't sure what disturbed me more; the fact that we hadn't talked, or the fact that I hadn't even noticed. Either way I was determined to actually hear her voice._

 _Eventually I waited so long that I fell asleep._

 _That night I had a nightmare.  
_

 _I don't remember all the details now. (Thank the heavens) But I remember the general plot._

 _In the nightmare I followed Emma into Hell. I don't think I even knew why we were going but I remember feeling like I had to save her. We got all the way there only for her to turn around and ask me why I had come. Then she turned around and began to make out with a faceless brunette woman right in front of me. I began crying and yelling in the dream which eventually woke me up.  
_

 _I was disturbed by the dream. My cheeks were wet from crying in my sleep. I checked the time on the alarm clock and it was 530am. Not TOO early. I probably wouldn't end up getting back to sleep. When I went to take my phone off the night stand I realized my hand was shaking._

 _I looked at the phone screen and saw that I had three missed calls and a text from Emma. I must have been so into the dream/nightmare that I didn't even hear the phone ringing. The text stated : Hey, I'm sure you're asleep. Please call me as soon as you can._

 _I was already shaken up and wanted to her to comfort me. Her message made it seem important to call so I thought there was no harm in at least trying to call her right then. If she was asleep she probably wouldn't even hear the phone anyway.  
_

 _But she did._

 _"Regina?" Emma asks sleepy but happy.  
_

 _"Sorry to call you so early." Regina apologies in a small voice._

 _Just hearing Emma's voice made me want to burst into tears again._

 _"Are you okay? What happened?"  
_

 _"I had a nightmare."_

 _"Oh I'm so sorry. Do you want to tell me about it?" Emma asks, more awake now.  
_

 _"I..You.." Regina begins to stutter and her breathing becomes erratic.  
_

 _"Shhh. Okay breathe. In and Out." Emma soothes, trying to calm her down. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It might make you feel better but just breathe for now."_

 _Regina follows instructions and breathes deeply before beginning again.  
_

 _"It was...awful. We were in hell and you-you were kissing another woman right in front of me and didn't care that I- I"_

 _"Shhhh. It's okay." Emma reminds her._

 _Regina focuses on breathing again. There is quiet on both ends for a while after that. Once Regina has calmed enough she tentatively calls the other woman's name._

 _"Emma?"_

 _"Yeah, sorry."_

 _"What is it?"_

 _"Nothing. Just...I don't know, it's ironic that you had the dream last night I guess."_

 _"What do you mean?" Regina's voice hardens significantly._

 _"This is not how I wanted to tell you." Emma lets out a long sigh. "Lilly kissed me last night. Nothing else happened and I pushed her away but I wanted to tell you. I'm honestly not that surprised it happened. She's been petty and jealous every time I've seen her lately. She's just hurt. We slept together a long time ago and I told her that I didn't do relationships. Now I'm with you and I don't know maybe she thought she could change my mind too. That's why I was so anxious and called you a bunch last night."_

 _"Why are you anxious to tell me? DID she change your mind?" Regina was now becoming a completely different type of upset._

 _"What? No. I wanted to tell you so that I wasn't keeping anything from you!" Emma said getting defensively angry._

 _"Oh, like how you kept the fact that you slept together a secret?!"_

 _"It was before we started dating! We never a had a relationship! It's not like you've given me a list of everyone you've ever slept with!"_

 _"I also don't plan on seeing any of those men ever again. Let alone work with them frequently!"  
_

 _"What about Darla?!"_

 _"You very well know that you're the only woman I've ever been with."_

 _"Yes but you dated her for like three months. That's much more intimate. And you didn't even mention it until after I met her!"_

 _"Darla and I have both moved on. Clearly at least Lilly hasn't!"_

 _"What do you mean 'at least'?!"_

 _"Have you moved on, dear?"_

 _"Don't call me dear condescendingly. And there was nothing to move on from!"_

 _"Clearly something is going on if she thinks she ever has a chance!" Regina took a deep breathe. Her insecurity fueling her words more than anger at this point. "Maybe you should be dating someone you work with."_

 _"Are you kidding me?!"_

 _"Emma I don't see you for months! I barley know about the sport that you work for, let alone anything about the cars you work on! I'm a busy woman! I have a child for christ's sake! What about Henry? Do you want to become an absent parent?! Because that's what's happening whether you intended to or not!"_

 _"No" Emma says brokenly."I don't"  
_

 _Regina calms at the tone. "Emma..."_

 _The line went dead. _

_I miss the days when at least the dial tone was heard. Now the cell phone just hangs up as if the other person had never even been there in the first place. _

_I was so upset after the conversation but between the (probably) loud nightmares and the yelling on the phone I began to worry that I had woken up Henry so I went to check on him._

 _My little Prince was thankfully still sleeping curled up on his side._

 _I laid down next to him and and cuddled up until I fell back to sleep.  
_

 _Waking up next to someone, especially my little ball of sunshine, made me feel worlds better. I knew I had overreacted to the situation._

 _My emotions had already been so high from the dream and then she added jealously and fear into the mix!_

 _All those things I said about her finding someone else, I obviously didn't mean. But those are legitimate fears and concerns I've been having for a long time now._

 _I desperately wanted to talk to her about it so I called her. In fact, I called her six times that day._

 _I finally realized that maybe she just needed time to cool down. So I simply text her the next day asking her to call me. When she still didn't I tried calling her again._

 _I called her once, everyday for a week before I stopped. I had already text her a short apology but it was something I wanted to physically speak to her about. When she continued to ignore me I became angry. I decided not to leave any voicemails because I wasn't sure what would end up coming out of my mouth at that point._

 _I refused to think about it. If she wanted to ignore me than fine. I ranted and raged about her on the phone to Katherine but that was the extent of my emotions at that point._

 _Until the day after Henry's birthday._

 _It had been two weeks since the fight at this point. He had a wonderful birthday party with his classmates at the house._

 _It was hard to put an entire party together by myself but Diana came and was actually a big help cleaning and watching the kids. I hadn't mentioned Emma the entire day and she seemed to pick up on the hint and not mention the missing blonde either. For that I was grateful._

 _The next day a package arrived in the mail. It was addressed to Henry but with no return address. I was curious and a slight bit concerned._

 _We opened the package when he arrived home from school. Inside was a card with Henry's name on it. A note with my name on it. And a remote control car. This one was blue, unlike the yellow one he already had._

 _The card read:_

 _Henry! Happy Birthday! I got you another remote control car so that now you can race with your friends. You are a very special boy and deserve to have a very special day. Love, Emma  
_

 _I was surprised but Henry was excited to hear from her. He hadn't spoken to her in even longer than I had at this point. He had only asked about her twice but I had side stepped his questioning by saying she was busy working both times._

 _I know that eventually I'll have to talk to him but I really don't know how._

 _I was nervous about the note addressed to me. I could just sense it wouldn't be good. I waited to read it until Henry was asleep._

 _It read:_

 _Regina, I hope you don't mind that I sent a gift. I had already bought it. I may not ever be a parent but I didn't want to leave Henry with nothing. He's wonderful and you're doing a good job raising him. You think of him first like a good parent should. I really will miss him._

 _The note sounded so final. It implied that she would never see him again and in that moment my heart shattered._

 _That's when I began to cry again. In earnest this time._

 _But I need to get over it._

 _I need to move on._

 _Not with someone else._

 _I couldn't put myself or Henry through that again._

 _No, I just need to move forward with my days._

 _That's why I'm writing you._

 _If the pain is outside of me, it can no longer live within me._


	35. Distractions

_Hello again,_

 _No, nothing tragic or wonderful has happened. I know that's usually how the story goes when I write to you. I am not going through anything emotionally jarring. I simply have news of my ever-changing life.  
_

 _I have been determined to keep myself distracted these last few months. (Too bad no matter how busy I am I still find time to think about Emma.) Yet, I've thrown myself into work and caring for Henry to the point where I have absolutely no free time to myself. (This limits the thinking at least.)_

 _I even decided to open another location of "Queen's" restaurant in St. Augustine. Now, most of my time is spent in the car driving back and forth between the two locations while construction is underway. I started listening to books-on-tape in the car so I couldn't let my mind wander to a certain blonde while driving._

 _Home life has been busy as well. Henry just started school again yesterday. He's in second grade now! He's still so small that I forget how old he's becoming. He really is so mature and smart for his age. When I finally had a conversation with him about Emma he understood better than I would have imagined. He even comforted ME at the time._

"It's okay, Mommy." Henry said and hugged his mother who had tears in her eyes. "Sometimes people have to leave us. Even if they love us, we have to go on different adventures without them."

 _The message was so insightful coming from a little boy who knew what it was like to loose loved ones.  
_

 _I never appreciated having Henry in my life, or my life in general, as much as I have lately. Especially after our trip last month. N_ _othing makes you appreciate what you have like being away from it. Mainly seeing other people's children. That will really make you appreciate how wonderful your own are._

 _Katherine had a beautiful baby girl on August 4th. Henry and I left to visit them at their home in New Hampshire two days later. It was a LONG day of traveling but going there was exciting because Henry had never been on an airplane before. Of course coming home is always worse and I honestly felt like I needed a vacation to recover from the vacation._

 _Regardless, the trip was a dose of medicine I didn't know I needed._

 _Baby Elizabeth was precious. Kat and Jim are natural parents. Watching Jim freak out trying to put together the stroller I bought them was also one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I wish I had a video._

 _Henry LOVED his baby cousin. He was so careful with her and she seemed so comfortable with him when we let him hold her. He would be such a wonderful big brother. It made me sad that I probably will never be able to give him that experience. The glimmer of hope I had for a bigger family has vanished by this point. I thought I was okay with that. Now I'm more upset for him than myself in that regard._

 _I made a conscious effort NOT to mention Emma during the trip. This was about Kat and her family, not my problems. She of course knew about everything that happened but only mentioned her once to ask if I was okay. I immediately disregarded her comment. I didn't even want to let thoughts of her in because then they wouldn't go away._

 _Unfortunately I had made the decision before leaving to visit Mary Margaret and her family while we were up north. She had not been clued in to my current emotional distress._

 _Where the Nolan's live in Maine was only a few hours away from the Knight's house so on a spur of the moment decision I had called her about visiting. This was a decision I almost immediately began to think was a bad idea. Before I got off the phone she had asked if Emma was coming. I told her we had broken up and hoped she would let it go but I should have known better. As soon as I showed up at her house she began bombarding me with all sorts of questions about my life and my relationship. I hadn't even been able to hold her baby before she started on me!  
_

 _I finally snapped at her before she let up. It was that or cry to her, and M.M. would have loved that too much for me to let it happen.  
_

 _Baby Ruth was also adorable. Although she did cry much more than Elizabeth. I internally smirked at the idea of the baby disrupting M.M and David's sleep. I want them to be happy and healthy in life, but I still see this as a little form of payback for being as annoying as they are._

 _I was also happy I had decided to stay at the bed and breakfast in town instead of at their house. They tried to insist their would be enough room but those would have been the longest two days of my life. Henry slept over one night though to bond with the boys and I was happy to let him do so. They're good people.  
_

 _Before we left, M.M pulled me aside._

 _"_ Regina" Mary Margaret begins. "I have a feeling everything will work out. If Emma is you're true love, which I believe she is, than you'll find each other again. But don't shut yourself out to love."

 _It was a nice sentiment but she was giving me one of the worst things you can give a person...hope._


	36. Drop Everything

_Daddy,_

 _I have said it before, and I'll say it again, phones are an amazing invention._

 _Just one phone call can change your life in an instant. This has happened multiple times in my life now._

 _Events must have progressed at a much slower rate when people relied on writing letters. Someone could be born, get married, or die, and you wouldn't have known about it for weeks. And still you would have time to process the news before writing back or visiting them._

 _Now you can know something has happened the moment after it occurs. You're more likely to say or do things before thinking them through. _

_A week ago, I had received one such phone call._

Regina had just sent Henry in to put his pajamas on when she heard her cell phone ringing. It was in her bedroom and she almost decided to be lazy and not go and get it, but something inside told her to.

 _Considering it was a Saturday night, I assumed it was an emergency at the restaurant._

When Regina finally picked up the phone the screen read: Emmazing Swan.

 _My stomach flipped. Why would she be calling me after all this time?!_

 _It's been five months! Almost half a year with no contact!_

 _Was she drunk calling me? Is it an accidental pocket dial?_

 _I didn't want to pick up but then one thought occurred to me._

 _What if it was an emergency? What if she really needed my help and I didn't answer the phone?_

 _I cursed the soft spot I would always have to her and hesitantly answered the phone._

 _"Hello?"  
_

 _"Hi, Regina?"_

 _It was a woman's voice, but certainly not Emma's._

 _"Yes?"_

 _"This is Mila Cassidy."_

 _"Oh. Hello."_ Regina answers still very confused. _"Why are you calling me from Emma's phone."  
_

 _"I took it when they gave me her possessions."_

 _"Wait, why do you have her possessions?!"_ Regina's heart rate began to increase significantly. Now that's she was thinking about it, Mila's voice sounded a bit distressed.

 _"Regina, she's alive_ , _please calm down._ " Mila responds in a motherly tone.

Regina takes a deep breath.

 _"She is in the hospital though. Apparently she had been complaining about severe stomach pains earlier today at the race but refused to go to see the doctors on site. One of the other mechanics in the tent say they saw her fall to the ground out of nowhere. We suspect that she fainted from the pain or dizziness. When she fell she hit her head and was unconscious when they rushed her to the hospital. I'm her emergency contact so they called me. By the time I arrived at the hospital she was awake again but she has a concision."_

 _"Is she going to be okay?! Is it severe?"_

 _"They told me they suspect the concision won't have lasting damage but that it's hard to tell with brain injuries. They are still running tests to see what caused her stomach earlier pain."_

 _"Have you seen her?"_

 _"Briefly. That's actually why I'm calling you."_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"She was pretty out of it because of the concision but she was asking for you. I was told she has been ever since she woke up."  
_

Regina didn't realize she was on her way to the computer until she sat down in her desk chair.

 _"Where are you?"_

 _" Stringfellow Memorial Hospital. Talladega, Alabama."_

Regina quickly typed it in to the search bar to print out directions.

 _"I'm on my way."_

 _"Thank you." Mila says with a smile in her voice before she hangs up.  
_

Regina grabs the directions and hurries to her room to get her purse.

 _I was checking to make sure I had everything in my purse when I remembered Henry in his room._

 _It's not like I forgot about him exactly, but ever since I picked up the phone my mind had been too preoccupied to think properly._

Regina sat down heavily on the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands. She needed to take a minute to think and breathe.

After a few moments she got up again and made her way into Henry's room.

"Henry?"

"Yes?" He says while sitting up in bed with a book.

"I need you to pack a bag with your toothbrush, some clothes for tomorrow and anything you might want to play with in the car."

"Why?"

"Emma's in the hospital and we need to go and visit her."

"Is she okay?"

"I think she will be." She says and brushes his hair from his forehead. "Now let's get a move on. We have a long car ride ahead of us."

Regina went to her own room to collect a few supplies before checking Henry's bag and making her way out of the house less than ten minutes later.

The car ride was long. Thankfully there was no traffic and Henry slept almost the entire way. It was the middle of the night by the time the pair arrived in Talladega. Regina went straight to the hospital. Logically she knew they probably wouldn't let her in to see Emma this late but she didn't care about logic at the moment. She had text Emma's cell phone hoping that Mila would still have it. Luckily she did, and told Regina that she was still at the hospital as well.

 _The closer I got to the hospital the more anxious I became._ _I was so worried for Emma. I was annoyed by how much I still cared and I was nervous about seeing and speaking to her again._

 _ _I had dropped everything without questioning the decision until I was an hour away.__

 _Ultimately I did begin questioning my decision to come all this way to see a woman who broke my heart.  
_

 _Nevertheless some unstoppable force continued to pull me closer and closer to her.  
_

 _Surprisingly, Mila brought us right into Emma's room upon arrival. Henry sluggishly walked into the room behind me. Upon seeing Emma sleeping in the bed he woke up some and went straight to her. I warned him not to wake her up but it turns out a nurse was coming to wake her up and check on her in a few minutes anyway._

 _For those few minutes before she woke up I studied her silently. She looked thin. Not that she wasn't always in shape but she looked thinner than usual._

 _She still looked good though. No obvious injuries. If it wasn't for her hospital gown one could be convinced that she was merely sleeping at home.  
_

"Regina?" She questions upon waking up.

 _I look over to Henry (who was already asleep again in the lounger) to make sure he didn't wake from her exclamation._

"Hi, how are you feeling?"

"Crummy." She mumbles. "You're here though and that makes me feel better." She adds with a sleepy smile.

The nurse then leaves the room and Emma yawns.

"You should get some rest."

"I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"I want to spend time with you." But even as she says this her eyes begin to close.

 _My heart fluttered at the words. Speaking to Emma again is the most pleasurably tortuous feeling in the world. She seemed a little out of it still and I was trying desperately not to take anything she says tonight to heart._

"I'll be here in the morning." Regina assures.

"Promise?"

"Promise."


	37. Doctors and Promises

_I slept fitfully that night in the hospital. Between the uncomfortable chair, the noises of the hospital, and my anxiety, I didn't really have a chance. I spent a lot of the time that I was awake simply watching her. Even thin and lying in a hospital gown she was more gorgeous than I could remember._

 _I was exhausted enough to get about three hours on and off and was grateful for anything at that point. I suspected I would need to be alert the next day._

 _And I was right._

 _As soon as I woke up the next morning everything before had felt like a dream. Henry greeted me in his loud-whisper voice. Evidently he had woken up before me but Mila had found a paper and pen for him to draw with._

 _It wasn't long after I accepted being awake for the day when Emma herself woke up. _

Emma stares at Regina upon waking. Regina finally feels the other woman's eyes on her and turns around. She doesn't understand why Emma looks so confused.

"You're here?"

"Yes?" Regina responds. "I did say hello last night."

"Did you? I don't really remember yesterday. I thought I had dreamed seeing you again." She admits.

Regina doesn't know how to respond. Thankfully the doctor chooses to enter the room a moment later.

"Hello, Miss Swan. How are you feeling today?" The kindly older gentleman asks.

"Alright."

"How is your head? Are you experiencing any dizziness, fogginess, memory problems?"

"I don't really remember yesterday but other than that no."

"That's normal for a concussion. You seem much better today though." He says scribbling on his chart. "I have your test results back from yesterday." He says and finally looks to the other people in the room.

"I'll take Henry to get some breakfast." Mila offers and takes Henry's hand.

 _I was wary to see someone go off with my child. Especially if it meant leaving me alone with the blonde but I accepted it without a fight. I didn't want Henry in the room just in case the news was bad and Mila had been wonderful to us so far. If Emma trusted her than I had no reason not to.  
_

Emma directs a small smile toward Mila and Henry when they leave.

"Okay Miss Swan..."

Regina unconsciously moves to stand closer to Emma.

"It seems you have had an episode of biliary colic. This means you have pain from a blockage in your biliary duct. This is most often caused by gallstones but not in your case. The pain from flare up could be severe enough to cause your fainting spell and subsequent knock on the head. The concussion was minor but if you stat to experience any pain once we take you off medication than please let us know."

Emma looked overwhelmed by the information so Regina decided to speak up.

"What caused this?"

"There are a few risk factors including the most common of gallstones. But being overweight or a sudden weight loss could cause an episode. Others include pregnancy, taking birth control, large amounts of alcohol or being diabetic."

Regina thinks over her shock at Emma's weight loss and nods her head absentmindedly.

"How is it treated?" The brunette finally asks.

"Since the pain was this severe on your first episode and you don't have gallstones I would recommend surgery to remove your gallbladder. I can talk to you about other treatments but I think this is your best option."

"What are the risks of this type of surgery?" Emma finally speaks up.

"Every surgery has risks but cholecystectomy is one of the most common procedures in the United States. Most people are out of the hospital by the next day. We do ask that you take it easy for a few weeks. No heavy lifting excetra."

"Okay." Emma decides.

"Alright we will set up a time to do the procedure and I will be back to talk to you about it soon." He says before he departs.

"Are you sure about this?" Regina asks once he's gone.

"Yeah. I don't want to constantly have to be taking medications or going in for check ups. I would rather just have this over and done with. I won't have excellent insurance for long."

"You like just getting things over and done with don't you." The words slip quietly out of Regina's mouth before she can stop them.

 _When I saw the hurt on her face my first instinct was to apologies for my outburst but I couldn't find it in myself to do that. Now that I knew Emma would be okay I remembered how furious I still was at her.  
_

"Regina, I'm sorry." Emma pleads getting teary.

"Are you? I don't know what that means Emma! Are you sorry that we ended? Are you sorry that you didn't have the decency to call me? Are you sorry I drove all the way here?!" Regina was getting more and more worked up as she spoke.

"I know." Emma says finally causing tears to spill over. "I know I should have called you. I was just so upset and angry that you basically broke up with me that I couldn't talk to you. And by the time I realized how stupid I was being so much time had passed and I didn't think a phone call from me would be welcomed or even answered."

"I didn't break up with you!" Regina says frustrated.

"It felt like that!" Emma insists. "You suddenly had all these concerns about our future and you were telling me to date other people. And you have to realize Regina, those concerns weren't new to me. I've been in a constant state of worry since our relationship began."

"What do you mean?" Regina asks deflating a little.

"I was worried from day one that I wasn't good enough for you. That you would decide to date someone who was around more or was better with kids or generally just better than me. You never expressed any concerns though. You were so assured and positive that everything would work out. Then all of a sudden you call me upset and crying about all these things that are wrong in our relationship and it freaked me out. It felt like I was being suddenly kicked to the curb."

 _I had known about her past and I despaired that I made her feel unwanted or unloved. _

_I also think that was the first time anybody had ever used the word "positive" as an attribute of mine. But reflecting back on the relationship, I was always very hopeful. Once we had gotten together I had just accepted the relationship as fate._

"You never said anything." Regina states brokenly. She truly doesn't know how to feel anymore.

"One of the first things I learned in foster care is not to stir the pot. If everything was good the last thing to do is bring up problems or complaints."

 _I realized in that moment that the two of us had had serious communication issues.  
_

"I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I want you to talk to me." She sighs. "I suppose I should have talked to you as well. I had those concerns for a while but I was too scared to bring them up in conversation." Regina admits. "What if you had told me you would never want to settle down? That you would want to have a traveling Nascar job forever? Or that you couldn't handle the long-distance? I thought it was better to live blissfully unaware until suddenly I woke up from that nightmare and couldn't hold it in anymore."

The two women both take a moment to reflect after this. Regina had stopped pacing and stood by Emma's side once more. After a few moments she could feel Emma watchful eyes on her.

"What?" She asks softly.

"I still can't believe you came all this way. How long was the drive?"

"Almost nine hours."

"Holy-" She cuts herself off. "And you brought Henry? Is he going to miss school? I feel so bad."

"He may miss a day or two but he's in second grade, he'll survive. I will make sure he catches up on any work."

"I'm sure you will." Emma says and winks. "How did you find out I was here anyway?" Her flirtatious tone has disappeared as fast as it came.

"Mila called me and said that you had been asking for me."

Emma blushes at the thought.

"I don't remember that. Though I'm sure I was." She admits, not looking Regina in the eye.

Regina smiles and grasps Emma's hand in both of hers.

 _How had I been staying away for the last few hours? How was this the first physical connection we'd made? It felt so natural._

"Why did you come?" Emma finally asks.

Regina's heart drops and she begins to pull back.

Emma responds by gripping her hand tighter.

"I'm so happy you came. But why did you" She clarifies.

Regina sighs deeply and looks down. "I'm angry at you Emma. And it would probably take us a while to build trust and communication again. But that doesn't mean I don't love you. You asked for me. You were hurt. You could have been dying for all I knew." She finally looks up into those piercing sea green eyes . "Of course I came."

"You still love me?"

 _I hadn't meant to put myself out there like that but the tentative hopefulness in her voice made me happy that I did._

"I was in love you the moment I saw you." Then she chuckles. "Okay that's not technically accurate. I lusted after you the moment I saw you on that beach. I was infatuated with you from the moment were were introduced. But I loved you by the time I beat your ass at mini golf." She smirks.

The he combination of hearing the other woman curse and her previous statements cause Emma to abruptly laugh and more tears to escape from her eyes.

"Either way," Regina continues. "feelings that strong won't just go away overnight...if ever."

Emma tugs the other woman down and kisses her hard.

 _I melted._

When they pull back their heads rest together.

"I love you too. From the day we met I was drawn to you; like a moth to a flame. I'm not one to usually put myself out there but for you...I wanted to invite myself into your life. That first year after we met I thought about you constantly, though I tried not to. I invited myself over for Christmas with the dwarves on the off chance of seeing you." She smiles but it's short lived. "Being without you these last few months has been so hard. I'm so sorry...please don't make me go through that again."

Regina lays on the hospital bed next to Emma and holds her.

"Never again." Regina swears. "As long as you promise the same."

"Forever." Emma mumbles into Regina's chest. The brunette still hears her.

The two lay together cuddled up for a while until Mila and Henry enter the room. Even then they don't break apart completely.

"Henry!" Emma says excitedly when he walks through the doorway.

Henry smiles widely but it falters a moment later.

 _I could tell that he was excited to see Emma, especially now that she was awake and coherent. But I could also see he was warring with himself. He looked to me nervously as if he thought showing the other woman too much affection would hurt me.  
_

 _How did I get so lucky to have such a compassionate child?_

"Come here, my prince." Regina encourages and pats her lap. He gladly takes the spot. It was a tight squeeze with all three of them on the bed but no one wanted to give up the comfort of being close.

"I've missed you." Emma says and hugs Henry tightly and pulls him onto her lap instead.

"I missed you too." Henry admits. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah kid, I'm going to be just fine." She assures him.

She then tells Mila all of what the doctor said (with Regina correcting her terminology and filling in missing information.)

"Well I'm glad you're okay." Mila states and kisses Emma's forehead. "Do you want me to stay for the surgery?"

"I'll stay." Regina responds. Emma smiles at her.

"I should be fine. You can go back and let everyone know I'm not dying. Thank you so much for everything." Emma tells her surrogate mother.

"Of course, honey." Mila responds and hugs Regina and Henry before departing.

 _The doctor comes back soon after to tell her the surgery is scheduled for the next morning and what it would entail.  
_

"Are you sure you want to go through with the surgery? You didn't even hear the other options. Racing season is almost over, you're going to miss most of it. And what if you aren't recovered enough to try out for the pit crew position?" Regina rambles worriedly once he is gone. She is pacing in front of the bed again.

 _I knew it was a simple procedure but I was still nervous. Hospital have always made me wary._

"Regina I'll be fine you're doing to ware a path in the floor." She teases. "I'm sure I'll make it back in time for at least the last two races. And as far as the pit crew...well I had already told Killian I wouldn't be trying out." She admits.

"What? Why?" Regina says shocked. She abruptly stops moving.

"I. uh. Okay. Well I had actually decided to leave the team altogether." She stutters the admission.

"What?!"

Henry looks over from where he was reading his book on the other side of the room. He continues to subtly watch the two women after his mother's outburst.

"To be honest, it's a lonely life, traveling. It's not like that for everyone, but for me, it was. I was okay with that before I met you but then...I don't know, you made me realize it's not the lifestyle I want." Emma tries to explain. "Gold had come to me a few months back and talked to be about all the other options I had within the company and it really made me think. I guess a part of me also hoped that if I was settled with a job near by... maybe I would see you or could win you back." She admits sheepishly.

Regina truly is speechless at this point.

"But it's your dream to be on a pit crew. I don't want you to regret not following your dream." She finally manages to get out.

"Sometimes dreams change." Emma states simply and holds her hand again. " A family. With you two. That's my dream. A family of my own has always been the deepest dream of my heart. That's the happiness I've been racing toward."

"If this was a race, we'd both be losing." Regina jokes trying to break the tension.

 _I was getting teary and that was not what I wanted. Her words were too beautiful though, I wouldn't help it._

"True. And you know how I hate to loose." Emma jokes right back.

Regina kisses Emma chastely, always aware of Henry's presence.

"You're my dream too." She whispers in the other woman's ear.

 _Henry and I stayed late at the hospital before Emma insisted that we go and get a hotel room. I was reluctant to leave her but I also desperately needed a shower so I eventually relented.  
_

 _The surgery went well the next day and they actually let her out of the hospital that night. We stayed in Alabama one more night before driving back home._

 _That's where we are now._

 _Home._

 _All three of us._

 _And I couldn't be happier._

* * *

 **Okay guys this is it. There will be one more chapter for the epilogue but I hope this was satisfying.**

 **Also, sorry if any of the medical jargon is wrong. I tried but I'm not a doctor by any means.**


	38. Doggy

_Dear Daddy,_

_It feels strange to write those words after all this time._ _Through all the changes from the last seven years I've somehow been able to keep this notebook safe and secret._

 _That is, until a few days ago when Emma found it while looking for any chocolate that I may have hidden away from everyone. She opened the notebook but realized it was personal pretty quickly and stopped reading. (Or so she claims) She was genuinely curious about what it was and do you know what I told her?_

 _I told her it was my "Emma" journal._

 _I honestly don't know where the name came from but the words flew out of my mouth so quickly that you would have thought I had previous titled it as such._

 _In the years I was writing to you I had actually always referred to it (in my head) as my Dad Diary. Now with time and perspective, I've come to view it differently._

 _I started this journal because of her. And I had her in my thoughts almost every entry afterwards. It's essentially a catalogue of our early relationship.  
_

 _Needless to say, after telling her the name, she instantly became one hundred times more interested in the journal's contents. Like a small child, she wouldn't stop bothering me about it until I finally told her that I would read her some of it. I was understandably nervous about this but we've stressed open and truthful communication in our relationship so I knew that I had probably told her about everything inside anyway. Regardless, someone knowing something about you, and hearing your exact feelings on the subject at the time it happened are two very different things.  
_

 _Emma could sense my reluctance though and was determined to make the experience fun. Every night after the children were asleep (or in Henry's case, awake but pretending to be asleep.) we would cuddle up in bed and I would read to her. She wanted to start at the beginning. She promised me that I could skip over anything I was too embarrassed to say but she also made it clear that she preferred to hear all my thoughts and feelings.  
_

 _And you know what, it WAS actually a fun experience. I forced myself to power through it and say everything written. She was the perfect audience; completely enraptured but also always ready to make comments and sound affects._

 _She awed when I met Henry. She made a sour face when Darla was mentioned. Although the face was short lived and she smiled smugly when I compared the two women. She laughed at my frustration from our first kiss. And she almost cried when I described our breakup. That was the only entries I had truly not wanted to read about but I'm glad I did. It was cathartic and a good reminder to keep our marriage strong.  
_

 _We read the last entry tonight and Emma was upset to see that there was still two blank pages left in the notebook. She asked me why this was and I told her that there wasn't any particular reason. I had just stopped got busy but in a very good way, and I no longer need that outlet to express myself.  
_

 _I've never once stopped talking to you in my mind. There have been so many moments when I wished you were there with us. But that's just the thing; I wasn't alone any more. I wanted you with US, not just with ME._

 _When I had started writing, I had no one to turn to. I didn't even feel comfortable telling my best friend all of my secrets. Now that's not true. I have someone. I have many people I could turn to. More people than I've ever had before. Or at least more than I ever realized I had._

 _Anyway, Emma's response to my answer was to hand me a pen. She told me that this story needed an ending. An epilogue of sorts._

 _The task was more overwhelming than I had imagined. How do I summarize all that has occurred or I hope will occur since I last put a pen to this paper?_

 _Luckily, my beautiful white knight has saved me once again. She suggested I regale you with a memory. Immortalize just one moment from my current life for you._

 _But how to choose just one moment? Another very daunting task, I assure you._

 _So to eliminate all the strife of a decision and I chose to tell you about a moment from today. Today had been a seemingly ordinary one in almost every regard._

 _But that's why I think it's perfect.  
_

Regina stood looking out over the ocean. In fact, it was the very same spot in which she first saw a glimpse of Emma. When they had decided to try and adopt a baby, they began looking for bigger homes. Fortunately a neighbor only two doors away was selling their spacious four bedroom house. It felt like fate. Neither woman liked the idea of moving too far away.

This was their home.

Regina looks over at the blonde now, admiring her physique and wonders how she was able to marry her dream woman.

Even a decade later, Emma is fit as a fiddle and still manages to leave the brunette speechless. She perhaps has less definition and a four-pack instead of a six, but that's to be expected with age and less vigorous work outs.

 _She blames my cooking.  
_

 _I'm surprised she's able to even get any food at dinner considering how much Henry has started eating. At fourteen, he has become a human garbage disposal. He's still thin as a rail though._

"Mom!" The teenage shouts.

Regina immediately turns her head toward him only to realize he wasn't talking to her. He and Emma are fooling around in the water close by.

 _When he was younger he still called me mommy so there was no confusion to whom he was referring. Now, with both of us being simply "mom" it can get confusing. Although not as often as you may think.  
_

"Mommy." A little voice asks from her feet.

She looks down at her little girl, Annalee, who is starting to build a sandcastle.

 _My beautiful baby girl! Who happens to not be such a baby anymore. If she knew I was writing this, she would probably insist that I tell you she is not four, but PRACTICALLY five years old since her birthday is in three weeks._

 _I tell her not to be in such a rush to grow up, but when do children ever listen to advice like that?_

"Yes, my princess?" Regina responds and crouches in the sand behind her daughter.

"Will you help me build the towers?"

"Of course." She says and makes herself comfortable in the sand next to her daughter.

A few minutes later Emma and Henry walk in from the water.

"Making a castle?" Emma asks.

"Yup!" The little girl responds.

Henry sits down on the other side of his sister.

 _Adopting children means they rarely look like you, but if that's what we were hoping for, we got fairly lucky in that regard._

 _No one (who doesn't already know about the adoptions) has ever questioned the parentage of our children. Maybe they wonder silently, but no one has ever asked. Although, our features and even completions are very dissimilar if you really look._

 _However, somehow Henry and Annalee look as though they could be blood siblings. They both have the same shade of brown hair and hazel eyes. And they both have thin mouths that stretch into the widest smiles. The most noticeable difference is the freckles. Annalee has a face full of them. Especially in the summer when she's in the sun a lot. Henry, like me, doesn't have a single one._

"Anything I can do to help?" Henry asks.

"You and Momma can build a moat." She directs in true Mills fashion.

"Okay!" The two hop up and take up the task of building a very deep surrounding moat.

They work amicably together while following the little girls instructions.

 _I soon became distracted. The beach couldn't be labeled "crowed" but they're were a few other families and couples sunbathing and enjoying the water. That's not even including all the locals who come to simple walk along the beach for a short time before leaving again._

 _One such neighbor caught my eye._

 _An older gentelman walked onto the beach with his dog. The collie immediately rolled around in the sand before allowing them to move forward on their walk._

 _As soon as the dog and his owner came near, I knew I was in for an earful._

"Doggy!" Anna shouts and runs over to him.

"Be careful!" I call behind her, but Emma and Henry are already making their way over to the dog as well.

They pet him for a few moments and ask about this name. (Which is Jake.) Before resuming their castle building.

 _Only they don't resume their building. Instead, they all look at me with identical expressions of excitement and pleading._

 _Maybe we do look alike._

"No." Regina says before any of her family can speak.

"Please mom!" Henry pleads.

"We'll take good care of a puppy." Annalee promises.

"No."

"You know," Emma starts. "you originally said maybe to a dog when we moved. Why has that changed to a hard no?"

 _The truth is, it wasn't a hard no. The truth...I already bought a dog. Or claimed one at least._

 _Diana's daughter goes to school with people who breed dogs. One of their Golden Retrivers just had puppies and I've already went over to their house and claimed one for us._

 _I have to say he is very cute._

 _I haven't told anyone or picked him up yet because he's still too young to be away from his mother. I also want to give him to Anna as a surprise for her birthday._

"I'll think about it." Regina promises Emma.

"It's okay I'll just send you more articles about the benefits of having a dog. Their are a lot of studies about how they are great to have when your children are young."

"Yes dear, you've made me read those before." Regina smirks.

"I just want to make sure." Emma says with a pouty expression.

Regina smiles and pecks her wife's lips.

"I promise to consider it."

 _I want to tell them so badly but I know the surprise is better._

Emma lights up.

"That practically means yes." She tells Henry. "What are we going to name it?"

The three of them spend the rest of the day throwing out names they may like for both girl and boy puppies.

 _We don't spend too much more time at the beach. Emma helped me cook dinner (still a favorite activity of ours) while the children cleaned themselves up._

 _All in all, it was a nice simple day. Just our family._

 _That's why I loved it so much. We don't get to have family days very often, or if we do it's shared with others as well._

 _Between school, work, clubs, birthday parities, and a miriad of other activities, it's hard to find a time for all of us to relax together for more than an hour at dinner._

 _Perhaps we need another vacation?_

 _Regardless of needing a vacation, I'm...happy._

 _The word seems insignificant but it's true. No one can be happy all the time, but I feel truly happy for at least a portion of every day. What more could I ask for?_

 _I don't need to ask for someone to listen to me anymore, as you have always done because I now have that._

 _That doesn't mean I don't miss you._

 _But I know in my heart, that you would be happy just because I am._

* * *

 **It's over! I can't believe I wrote a story that is over 60 thousand words! I know to many of you that's not a lot but for me, that's nuts.**

 **Thank you for everyone who read, commented on, followed or favorited this story! I hope you enjoyed it!**


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